Desperation (Semi-Hiatus)
by Kawaii-Dipshit
Summary: When Kuina and Kashiro are killed by thieves, Zoro gives up on life, waiting for them to do the same to him. But when he is saved from the cruel judgement by a red haired man, he is adopted once again. What Zoro didn't expect were all the siblings, and how one would be able to heal his broken .. AU, ZoSan, Shonen-Ai, don't like, don't read!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Oh my gawd you guys. I finally managed to gather up the courage to post a fanfic, this is big. I've been writing little things before, but I've never actually entered anything. This fanfic is kind of inspired on a book I read a long time ago, by Diana Wynne Jones. I think it was called "The Game" or something like that, but in the book the protonagist came to a house wich was just kids running around everywhere. It made quite the impression to me, I thought it was kinda neat to have so much siblings... well, in the first chapter you won't really notice this, but hey, I have tp get the plot starting right? Enjoy~!**

Chapter one : Red

It was another peaceful day in a certain village in Japan with everyone enjoying the nice weather as long as it would last and the shopkeepers doing good business. Walking trough the small town, two kids who were about seven and ten years old were arguing with each other. The townspeople watched the familiar pair with an affectionate smile plastered on their face, which only grew when the younger of the two glared at them.

The older one, a girl with short navy blue hair, was carrying a white katana in one hand and a plastic bag of groceries in the other, while the tan green haired boy was carrying four of those.  
As they continued walking, the arguing grew fiercer.

"Why is it my fault?" Hissed the girl with a frown to the boy. "It was your idea to fight with real swords, wasn't it, Zoro?!"

Zoro scowled at the older girl and shrugged. "And? You were the one who wielded the sword."

The girl bristled in annoyance and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, that might be true," she said slowly, as if she was on the edge of hitting the younger boy. "But how is it my fault if you were just whacking those three swords on mine?"

Zoro remained silent for three seconds, and Kuina was about to announce her victory when Zoro stated otherwise.

"It is your fault your sword got blunt. End of the discussion." He said with his nose in the air, stamping forward and glaring at everyone who dared to laugh at him with his almost black eyes.

Kuina bit her lip and ran after her little brother, still not giving up on the topic. "How come you are the one to say that? It's obviously your fault!"

Zoro whipped around with his face in a scowl."No it's not!"

Kuina sighed and rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. "Shut up Zoro. It doesn't matter. We've already brought it to the blacksmith so there's no point in arguing anymore. If you really want to know whose fault it is, you can ask father." Kuina said to the scowling boy.

"End of discussion."  
She added with a smirk.

Zoro's scowl deepened by those words and remained silent for the rest of the walk back to the dojo which was located a few hours away from the village.

Kuina wasn't Zoro's biological sister, and neither was her father. Kashiro-Sensei, the man who took the three year old Zoro in when his parents died in a fire, was the one who taught Zoro to protect himself and his loved ones trough kendo, a japanese way of sword fighting. It didn't take very long for Kashiro to see that Zoro was different from the rest. He was much more ambitious and trained whenever he could, this resulted into what Zoro was now, his second best student.

The only one who was able to beat Zoro was Kuina. Kuina trained even harder than Zoro, which seemed almost impossible, and Kashiro knew the reason for this all too well. Kashiro was a man of tradition, and he knew that he couldn't let his only child Kuina inherit the dojo. All because she was a girl. Kuina knew and hated this fact, and was really upset by it. That is why she trained so hard, it was in order to prove that a woman can be strong too.

The night before, Zoro and kuina had engaged into a duel with real swords. Zoro had lost, and kuina had confessed that her dream was to become the world's biggest swordsman, but that she knew it was impossible, because she was a girl. Zoro had denied this though, and had asked her how she dared to say that when she had just defeated him while he was a boy. In the end, they promised that one of them would become the greatest swordsman or woman of the world. The morning after, kuina discovered that her sword was blunt when she wanted to put it back in the cellar, and decided to go to the only village nearby which still had a blacksmith who worked with katanas. She had stated that Zoro should go with her, because it was his fault the sword became blunt. This was why they were traveling the entire way to the village, while they lived so far away from it.

Neither Zoro or kuina complained about their legs hurting,because that would be like giving up and letting the other win. Zoro and kuina were very competitive with each other, which resulted into them being very stubborn kids. As they walked over hills, trough forests and crossed rivers, they neared the dojo when twilight had already fallen, and it was getting darker and darker. Zoro let out a yawn, (which obviously didn't count as giving up as he was always yawning,) and looked at the red sky and pinkish orange clouds. Zoro never really liked sunsets, nor the color red. It was the color that came to his mind as he tried to recall his parents, and thus he came to detest the color greatly. As they walked up the hill that would lead to their home, kuina sniffed audible, and frowned as she recognized the ominous smell.

"Zoro,"  
She muttered, the worry clearly present in her voice.  
"Do you...smell fire too?"

Zoro gulped when he indeed smelled the scent too, and slowly he again turned to the sky.  
Zoro gasped softly as he saw smoke curling in the red sky above them, and with a trembling finger he pointed to it.  
"Kuina," Zoro said with a trembling voice. "I don't think that smoke is coming from the chimney. "

Kuina started running up the hill, and Zoro followed her, stumbling on the way.  
He almost bumped into his sister as she suddenly stopped running, and dropped her bag and sword to the ground. Her face was illuminated by a reddish light and her eyes stood wide in shock as she regarded the sight in front of her.

Slowly, trembling as well, Zoro turned his head to see the cause of her shock, even though he could figure out himself what it was.

Zoro was sure he would never be able to forget the sight he then saw. The entire dojo was red, engulfed by long red tongues licking at the wooden building, and the dead bodies of his fellow students, also red of the blood still flowing out of their fatal wounds.  
Standing between the red corpses in front of the red dojo, stood a man with a red katana facing three men all of them with guns. It was Kashiro.

Zoro stood frozen as his entire world was for the second time in his life drenched in red, and memories started flowing in his head. Zoro had always thought that that was something that happened only in books and in stories of drunk sailors, but it happened to him there and then. And he just stood frozen next to his sister. His parents didn't just die in a fire, they were murdered. Murdered by men dressed in black, just like the ones about to kill Kashiro Sensei. When zoro looked back to it, he still wondered how he could remember things that happened when he was only three years old, and why he remembered them then, but what he did know is that the anger that rushed into him was overwhelming. So overwhelming he could not move an inch.

After what seemed like hours, kuina swiped her katana from the ground, and started running towards the men in black in an inhuman speed. Zoro could only watch in complete fear as kuina charged the men and managed to bring one down, and how Kashiro kept telling her to run. Zoro would never forget the first and last time he saw Kashiro cry and act so hopeless. Zoro would never forget how the remaining men pulled their trigger and shot the only two people walking on this planet who truly meant something to him.

At that moment, that moment filled with utter despair, hate and fear, something in Zoro broke. If it was either his heart, faith in humanity or his sanity, he would never know, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was all three.

Zoro ran forward unarmed, blinded by the most intense shape of hate, and was shot in the shoulder and leg. He continued running forward though, determined to kill the ones who did this to his loved ones.

He saw Kuina's copse move, and there was a tiny moment Zoro felt hopeful. Maybe they'll get out alive, even if it's just two.  
But that tiny spark of hope disappeared in doubt when Kuina started screaming.  
"ZORO!"

A high pitched shriek cut trough the silence, causing Zoro to stop dead in tracks.  
"NO! RUN!"

Oh how Zoro would've loved to follow her advice, he was scared, so scared, but what did he had to lose? A family? No, they were dead, laying next to each other. A life? No his life was here, and if he'd turn around now he knew he would never forgive himself.  
As he started running once more, he heard the sickening sound of a gunfire, and the last words of his sister.  
"YOU PROMISED ZORO! RUN!"  
And then the body went silent for eternity.

She was gone.

Everyone was.

If it was possible to make the fiercest shape of hate become even more heated, it happened to Zoro then.  
As he charged, his entire mind went blank, and he didn't realize what happened for the remaining minutes.  
Zoro managed to land a kick in the chest and few punches in the face before he was hit in the head and crumbled to the ground. Tears streamed out of his eyes as his wet eyes met Kuina's blue dead ones, and he then knew it was all over. All because he wasn't able to protect his family. Again.

"What's wrong with this kid?" Mumbled one of the men, his voice drenched in disbelief and disgust. "Beats me, I've never met a kid so stupid to think he could think he could kill an adult with a gun. Let alone two. "  
Zoro saw how a black shoe nudged the limp body of the third man that kuina had defeated, who gave a soft groan in response.  
"Good. The fool's still alive. "  
Zoro bit his tongue to keep him from screaming, and prepared to die soon. He knew he wasn't going to last much longer.

"Now, only to finish off this kid and we can get outta here..."  
Zoro closed his eyes, ready to die, when he heard a scream and a curse. His eyes flashed open, and again red filled his vision. In front of him, stood a red haired man with one arm and a sword in his hand, which was dripping with blood.

"I didn't think so." The man said in a steady voice.  
What happened next was still a bit vague to Zoro. All he what came to his mind when he tried to remember what had happened was the color red.

Zoro closed his eyes once more in hope that the color would disappear from his vision, and was all too thankful when he passed out, and all he saw was black.


	2. Chapter 2

Desperation : 2

**An: Sorry for taking my blissful time to update, but this chapter was much longer at first (almost 10000 words wtf how did that happen) so I've decided to split it up. Because of this I think I'll be able to post chapter three this week as well. Another reason why this chapter is late is because I was workinbg on the plot, which was weird and too long at first, but now actually sort of makes **_**sense**_**. I'm not saying it's good, but it is better in the least.**

**Well, I've decided to change the story in an AU, simply because it suits the story better and makes the plot easier to understand. I will have to change chapter one slightly, but that mostly means changing "East blue" into "Japan "and stuff like that. I also added some of Zoro's thoughts, you can recognise those by the single apostrophes and the Italics.  
I just want to thank everyone who has followed and favorited this story, especially ajwehri, Cb O chan and sunsets-are-stupid for reviewing, you guys made me so happy, to the point of me grinning the entire day and telling everyone even though they weren't interested. Ahem. Well, enough blabbering, enjoy!**

**(Ajwehri, if it's still difficult to read please tell me!)**

Chapter Two: My Vow

Zoro woke all sweaty and trembling.

He shot up to a sitting position the moment he came to, and his small fists were clutching the blankets as if it was his life he was holding onto. Panting and wide eyed, Zoro tried to calm himself and figure out what in the name of god that dream was about.  
Kuina and Kashiro... They died. That couldn't be actually possible, could it? No, they both were way too strong to be defeated by just that, and besides, he was awake now, which was another proof it was all a dream.

Zoro's thumping heart seemed to have calmed down, and his hands were just shaking only a tiny bit. Zoro felt a weight lift off his shoulders when he realized it didn't really happen, and relieved he closed his eyes for a while.  
Wiping his sweaty forehead, he decided that as from now he would even train harder to become the world's biggest swordsman, and to overtake Kuina. A tiny smile appeared to Zoro's face, but it soon vanished when he opened his eyes, and looked around.

Wait...

This wasn't his bed.  
And this wasn't his room either.

Zoro almost choked in the big gulp of air he took, and he fell to the ground in his struggle to get out of the bed. Wriggling his way out of the silk duvet which didn't smell like home at all, he managed to stumble to the huge window on the right of the bed.  
With shaking movements, he peeked trough the curtains, which to his agony, were a deep dark red.  
Blinking furiously while his eyes got used to the bright white light, his dark eye widened when he took in the scenery before him.  
Green hills covered in grass and tiny little colourful dots which probably were flowers, graced the landscape. A forest was not so far away and a river ran trough a massive garden in front of the just as magnificent mansion Zoro currently stood in.  
The mood of happy children running trough the grass and playing in the water, contrasted hugely with Zoro's own, which couldn't be any worse. It felt as if someone had cracked his heart, to glue it, and scatter it beyond repair. Zoro wouldn't believe it. He couldn't. He had lost his family once, he would not let it happen again.  
Driven mad by sadness and disbelief, Zoro ran out of the room, as if that would make this all to away, not really being aware of anything that he saw. He just kept yelling Kuina's and Kasiro's name over and over again, until his throat was sore and someone gently guided him back to his room, and shushed him by singing a seemingly familiar lullaby

Zoro's eyes snapped open. Why they did, he did not know, but as his eyes flashed rapidly trough the room and he realized he wasn't home, he wished they never had. He knew that denying it any more now would be like running away, and since Zoro was a man, he wouldn't run or cry even in the most desperate situations.  
The silence and light in the room were disturbing Zoro a bit, and the soft laughs and yelps he again heard from outside made him think. He didn't have the slightest idea where he was, and it bothered him. Judging from the hugeness of it, and the amount of children, Zoro came to the conclusion that it might be an orphanage.

Zoro hated orphanages from the bottom of his heart, because he heard many awful things from his fellow students back at the dojo. He couldn't remember much of it, but before he started diving with Kashiro he lived in an orphanage until he became five and ran away. The food was barely consumable and the hygiene was horrible. But the worst part were he people, the children were empty vessels, whereas the nurses seemed to enjoy this so much they became happy. You got punished over any little thing, and if you tried to run, you were murdered on the spot.  
Probably because if you ran it would be discovered in what condition the children lived.  
Zoro didn't know how he managed to escape the clutches of those witches, or how he managed to stay sane and alive when he did.  
So it was kinda obvious that Zoro shivered by the idea of this being an orphanage, and shrugged it off quickly.

He decided that pondering over this wouldn't get him much further, so he pushed the blankets off his body and he gasped for breath as he saw the bandages.  
The white fabric entrapped his ankles and a bit of his leg making it more difficult to move. Zoro wondered how he got the injuries, and frowned deeply when he remembered nothing about wounds on his chest and arms, just the hit on his head. Zoro touched his head and felt the rough surface of the bandages wrapped around his green hair. Well, at least he knew where that one came from, but that didn't really reassure him. One thing he was sure of, that his wounds were tended, and thus he could conclude the owner of this place didn't want him dead. At least, for now.  
Zoro carefully left the way too big bed, and walked towards the window. Just like before, kids were running around happily and the scenery was really beautiful but what caught Zoro's eye was the red haired man, talking to two black haired and one blond haired kid. Zoro knew he had seen the man before, but he couldn't remember when or where.  
Because his room was only on the second floor, he could clearly hear the words the small company were saying.

"But why not?" The smallest of them said, a pout clearly present in his whiny voice. "He won't bite, won't he?"

The older one standing next to him, folded his arms and spoke with a cheeky voice. "Yeah old man, what's the big deal?

"We were allowed to see all the others, why can't we see this one?" The blonde boy said, but in a much more polite voice than the others had done.

The red haired man pinched his nose bridge and shook his head. "I know. But he needs rest now. "  
The small raven boy started jumping up and down, getting the attention of the ginger. "Then I'll just go to his room without waking him!"

The man flicked his finger against the excited boy's forehead, who immediately stopped jumping.  
"I didn't think so." The man said, causing the three to "awww".

To them, the four words didn't mean more than to any other but to Zoro, it meant the difference between ignorance and a sudden realization.

I didn't think so.

Suddenly Zoro was back on the ground, bleeding and aching and crying. His eyes were closed but he saw everything. Kuina's dead eyes, Kashiro's bloody glasses, black shoes and red hair, and the white sword which seemed to play the main role in his flashback. Everywhere were Zoro looked, the sword appeared, as if it was reminding him something, as if it was reminding him of his promise. The only sound was the loud pounding of his heart, which was suddenly interrupted by a loud scream. Zoro's eyes opened and he saw the red haired man, and all he heard where those four words.

I didn't think so. I didn't think so. I didn't think so.

A hand clasped over his mouth, muting the scream Zoro wasn't aware of he was making. He was back to the room in the mansion, but the visions didn't seem to have disappeared. A slightly tan arm was growing out of the wall, the hand tightly covering the bottom of his face. Zoro muffled something, and a soft voice shushed him.  
"Shhhh..." It said "you're all right now."

Zoro tried to pull the hand away, and he never stopped screaming in the process, and it seemed to get on the nerves of the arm.  
"If you'll keep quiet I'll let go. "  
Zoro stopped screaming and waited for the hand to release him. When it did, the door behind him slowly opened and Zoro whipped around, his eyes meeting with beautiful blue ones. The woman standing in Zoro's doorway was really beautiful, with a tan skin, ink black hair with a long straight fringe, a straight nose and big blue enchanting eyes. Glasses were perched on her thin nose and her black hair was tied into a messy bun. She clutched a thick book in her hand, and the smile on her lips gave her something mysterious.  
Any other would've succumbed to her elegance, but Zoro was a seven year old with no interest whatsoever in any woman, no matter how stunning. Besides, the girl was about sixteen years old, which was nine years older than Zoro was.  
The tan arm disappeared, leaving behind some flower petals. Zoro was too shocked by this to continue screaming, and he looked at the woman in shock.  
The woman smiled at Zoro's amazement and walked to one if the chairs standing in the room, where she sat down.  
Zoro regained his ability to speak and gestured to the place the arm had been before.  
"What are you? And where did that arm come from?"

The woman chuckled at Zoro in a mocking way, causing him to dislike the woman more by every passing second. He didn't like her mysterious behavior at all, and her mocking didn't really help with him liking her.

"Fu fu fu," Laughed the woman, a smile still present on her futures. "Let's just say I ate a certain fruit, shall we Bushido-chan?"

Zoro felt his eyebrow twitch as the honorific "chan" reached his ears. Not only had the woman treated him disrespectful in his eyes, but she had thrown even more riddles at Zoro.  
Because, how did she know he was a swordsman? Maybe because his red haired saviour had told her? Maybe the woman liked seeing Zoro confused and all ticked off, just like... just like Kuina had. Zoro bit his lip while glaring at the woman that did not make sense to him.

"What's with you?" Zoro said in the most arrogant voice he could manage. "Is all you can do is speak in riddles?"

This seemed to surprise her, but not soon after her eyes widened she straightened her face again and she was the composed riddle woman again. She raised her eyebrow at Zoro, who just scowled back at her.

"what?"

"...Have you ever heard of the term devil fruit?"

'...what?'

"Or the Japanese alternative if you prefer that, "Akuma No Mi?""

'Ehm, I think this woman just turned mad.' Zoro thought. 'And where in the world do people speak Japanese and fluent English, instead of the English with the horrible but terribly amusing Japanese accent?'

"Judging from the look you're giving me, you clearly do not."

Zoro frowned at the woman, who was now tapping her lips with her finger nervously, as if there was something seriously wrong with Zoro, instead of her mental health. She glanced at Zoro, and then to the window and to the door, and sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples gently.  
She raised from her chair, and was about to walk towards the door when Zoro grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Wait," Zoro ordered, getting the woman's attention. "Where am I? I'm not in Japan anymore, am I?"

The woman smiled at Zoro, making him assume she'd just leave without answering him, but to his surprise she actually answered him.

"It's Robin."

That wasn't really the response Zoro had hoped for.

"What?" Zoro said, once more confused by the woman's words. "Is that even a place?"

"My name." Robin said, with a straight face. "It's polite to call someone's name when you talk to them, and besides, it's rude to grab the arm of a lady."

Zoro looked into her blue eyes and grunted. "There shouldn't be a difference between the way we treat males and females."

Robin blinked once or twice before smiling and letting go of the door handle she held until then.  
"Quite the wise one, aren't we?" She teased, once again sitting down in front of Zoro, who was still standing. "Or are you just jealous perhaos, , and want me to open doors for you and pay your bills on our dates?"

"HELL NO!" Zoro shrieked, (in a very manly way, obviously,) and waved with his arms to emphasize his point. "DON'T YOU EVEN TRY! AND WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT DATING?!"

Robin laughed at him, and gestured towards the chair in front of hers. "I won't, if you sit down. It makes me feel awkward to be the only one sitting."  
Zoro sighed and walked to the chair when Robin interrupted him.  
"Just that you know, I wont pull out the chair for you."

Zoro flushed red and glared at Robin while he sat down.

"I wouldn't allow it even if your would." He mumbled loud enough for robin to hear. "Besides, there isn't a table to pull it out from."  
Zoro, who was desperate to change the topic , subtlety changed it.  
"Anyway..." He said, hoping his blush was gone and he didn't look like a big tomato. "You were going somewhere. And you still have to explain the "akuma no mi" thing, and convince me you're still sane. "  
Robin mouthed an 'oh yeah' and smiled. "Well, I'd love to convince you, but it's not my place to do so. I had to get Shanks anyway."

Zoro frowned. Why would she need someone else to explain that? It wouldn't matter who told him, right?  
Well, Zoro figured that if it indeed mattered he'd find out alone enough, whatever that fruit might be, and what it had to do with arms growing out of the wall.

"If you'd please excuse me..."  
Robin said, closing her eyes and crossing her arms in an odd way, like an Egyptian Pharaoh had them crossed in a sarcophagus. Zoro wondered what she was doing, and if more hands would grow out of the walls. But no matter how long Zoro stared, robin didn't move and no hands materialized out of nowhere.

Well, he could only stare for about two minutes though, as he was interrupted by someone knocking on glass.  
Zoro whirled around to look at the window, where three sets of big eyes stared back at him. It were the two raven haired boys and the blonde one with the blue eyes. Zoro looked from Robin to the trio, and when Robin still didn't give a sign of life Zoro walked towards them.  
When the window swung open, Zoro was immediately taken aback by a question of the youngest one, who by closer examination had a thin scar underneath his big brown left eye.

"ISYOURHAIRANATURALCOLIRBECUZITSGREENANDTHATSWEIRD ?!" The boy said in an unnatural speed.

"W-what?" Was all Zoro managed to stumble out after three seconds. The other two had pressed their hands on his mouth trying to shush the boy before robin would notice them. The two peeked into the room, and visibly were relieved to see robin. Zoro did saw the girl as someone who wouldn't snitch on curious kids.

"He said," began the blonde, baring his teeth so Zoro could see he missed one. "Is your hair colour natural because it's green and that's weird."

"It's natural" Zoro said, not really surprised by the question since he was used to it. Only most of the time it wasn't asked so fast that he couldn't even make one word out.

"Ehm..." Began the older raven haired with freckles. "Can we come in, we're kind of on the edge of falling down..."

Zoro looked down and saw they were standing on some bricks which stood so they could be used to stand on, but if they only moved an inch they would fall down.  
Zoro stepped aside let the boys enter one by one, and soon they stood in front of him, bowing their heads.

"We're Sabo, Ace and Luffy!" Said the blonde one, who Zoro figured was Sabo for some reason. "It's very nice to meet you!"

Zoro bowed his head down too, again confused. Where did people speak English and Japanese and bowed in respect like he had done often at his old home? "I'm Roronoa Zoro, it's very nice to meet you too."

"Zoro huh?" The freckled one who's name was Ace said. "That's a pretty cool name." He rubbed his chin as if he was deep in thought, and grinned at Zoro. "We might let you join our gang."  
Zoro frowned at them, and didn't think one of them could be used as sparring partner so he didn't consider joining their "gang" in the least.

Zoro didn't want to respond to Ace, so he began talking about something else.  
"Where am I?" Zoro said, causing the three to give him a questioning look.

"...you're in your room." Said Sabo with a frown on his face, probably wondering if Zoro was mad or stupid or anything.  
Zoro shook his head at the boy, causing his frown to deepen. "No no" Zoro said, as if Sabo was being stupid. "I meant in which country."

Luffy started laughing wile Sabo and Ace just looked at him with worry. "Hahahaha" Luffy giggled while pointing at Zoro. "Are you stupid? You're in Iceland you dummy!"  
If Zoro had been drinking something, Luffy and the two others would be drenched in that very liquid now.

"Iceland!" Zoro squealed, trying to convince himself that was not on the other side of the world.

"Yeah!" Luffy laughed, when something seemed to sink in. "Wait..."  
Suddenly he was panicking and looking from Ace to Sabo, who seemed very shocked too.

"Don't tell me you haven't spoken with Shanks yet..."  
Ace said, his voice slightly trembling.  
Zoro shook his head, for some reason pitying the trio and wondering what was so wrong with that.

"Shit" they muttered in unison and they turned to Robin, who had a cunning smile on his lips.  
"Wait, robin, you aren't..."  
When robin's smile only widened they started running around in circles. "Crap!" Ace yelled at the other two. "Quick hide before-"

Ace was cut off by the door swinging open and something black and red flashed trough Zoro's vision.  
The next thing he knew was that the red haired man stood in front of him with the three kids in one hand, all three if them squirming and sweating as if the man was the reaper himself.

"Before what?" The man asked, emitting an evil looking black aura, which only frightened his victims even more.  
"Nooo!" Luffy cried, trying to get out of the man's grasp. "I'm too young to dieee!"  
The man looked down at Luffy, and rolled his eyes.

"I thought I clearly told you you weren't allowed in here before I gave you my explicit permission, huh Ace?"  
Ace pretended he wasn't listening and Sabo remained silent. Zoro saw them exchange looks and when Ace yelled "Now!" They all slipped out of their shirts and ran trough the door in the hallway, laughing the entire time.

"Yes!" Zoro could hear them saying. "Good thing you guys weren't wearing your hats or bad thing's would've happened!"

Shanks sighed, and glanced to robin, who only nodded and folded her arms again.  
Not so much later Zoro heard shrieks and the door was opened, while three arms threw the trio back in the room.  
No matter how robin was able to do that, Zoro made sure he would remember to never get on her bad side.

As the man who seemed to be Shanks hit their heads one by one with his right hand, and when Zoro looked at his left one because he wondered why, he saw the white sleeve was all limp and empty.  
As the man lectured the three further, Zoro caught a glimpse of the three thin scars running over the man's left eye. Zoro concluded that the man must have been either a warrior or very stupid to have suffered from those injuries.

From the way the man acted, Zoro couldn't really see which one was more likeable to be the truth.

While Ace, Sabo and Luffy rubbed the big lumps on their heads, Shanks sat down and Zoro followed his lead and sat in between Robin and him. Zoro was obviously trying to make eye contact with the man, and Shanks was obviously avoiding his gaze by staring out of the window.

"You're probably wondering why you are here..." He murmured softly, just loud enough for Zoro to hear.

"Yeah" Zoro answered, wondering why the man looked away from him.  
He turned to robin who had a secretive smile on her face, so Zoro was sure he wouldn't get an answer from her. Luffy, Ace and Sabo just frowned and shook their heads, so that didn't really help either.  
Maybe the only option Zoro had was to wait and see.

"S'pose that's kinda obvious." Shanks mumbled absent mindedly, causing Zoro to get slightly annoyed with him.

'Why ask then?'

The man leaned backwards a bit, causing his chair to tilt and his view on the window to improve.  
Shanks narrowed his eyes till they were slits, then smirked and raised from his chair.  
As he took big steps towards the window, he grabbed a knife which was hidden between the fabric of his clothes and he opened the window with a swing of his right arm.

With a smooth fast swipe, the knife left the room as fast as a bullet, and the man grinned with content.

"HEY!" He yelled after the knife. "HERE'S YOUR STUPID KNIFE BACK!"

It didn't took very long till the one the knife was aimed at to reply, but he did it in a much more calm fashion, but his voice was loud and clear nevertheless.

"Your aim was off as usual, Akagami." The voice said. "It almost sliced my head off instead of hitting one of the targets."

Shanks started laughing loudly while he dodged the knife flying towards his head.  
Robin chuckled along as usual, and Luffy and the other two grinned.

The only one not joining into the laughter was Zoro.

He just stared in shock, not because of the aiming skills of either of the men, but because of that calm voice, the voice he had listened so many times to so that he would always recognize it.  
He had heard the voice often on the rare occasions he watched television, and his eyes were always glued to the screen when the owner of the voice was shown. Kashiro always called for Zoro and Kuina whenever this certain man appeared in the news, and even if Zoro was busy with training he'd always take a little break. After all, the only way to defeat a master was to learn from one.

Dracule Mihawk.

That man was Dracule Mihawk.

Zoro blinked a few times before he suddenly jumped up, causing Robin to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. Ignoring the stares from the baka-trio, (as Zoro had nicknamed the three still sitting behind him,) Zoro ran towards the window, pushing Shanks out of the way in the process.  
He pretended the "Oi" didn't reach his ears as his eyes scanned the green hills in search of the infamous swordsman.

And there, with his trademark black hat and clothing, stood the man looking up at him, his face clear of expression.  
Zoro shivered as he looked into the frightening yellow eyes which were said to look like a hawk's, but this only added fuel to his determination.

Adrenaline pumped trough Zoro's veins, making his hands shake and his mind much faster. Panting heavily, Zoro ripped his gaze away from his self proclaimed nemesis and he whirled around, surprising everyone in the room except for Robin, who had the same secretive smile on her lips as always.  
Ignoring all the worried questions thrown at him, Zoro barged for the door, hoping that his instinct would take him to wherever Mihawk was.  
His hand reached the iron door handle, and he pushed it down, almost ripping the wooden door out of it's frame. If not for his unwavering decision to battle Mihawk right here right now, he would've stopped to stare at the hugeness and prettiness of the hallway.  
But he ignored the chandeliers and one fashioned doors and the beautiful carpet, and he kept running.

From behind him, he heard Shanks' voice.  
"Robin." Was all he said, and Zoro's blood went cold.  
If robin was to interfere all of this, he would be dead before even getting outside.  
He felt an arm sprout from his back, and softly apologized to Kuina and Kashiro, when it suddenly felt like the hand was pushing him to the right.  
Confused Zoro looked at the hand, who was indeed pushing him to the right, as if to say, 'this way you idiot'.

Zoro decided to obey, and at the first right turn he could take, he went right. Zoro frowned when he saw a huge door in front of him, which obviously was impossible for him to open, but which obviously led to outside. The hand pushed him forward, and Zoro slowly pushed against the thick wooden door.

To his utter surprise, the thing actually opened very smoothly, and Zoro stood outside, and almost bumped into Mihawk.

Zoro glared at Mihawk, and Mihawk looked down on him with his usual cold expression.  
Zoro didn't realize the hand was long gone, but he did realize that there was a sudden extra weight in his haramaki.  
He looked at his side, Mihawk doing the same, and they both blinked in surprise when they saw three katana, Mihawk hiding his shock it much better than Zoro, who could do nothing more than stare at the swords.  
One of he three swords had a white hilt and sheath, and was slightly lighter and clearly of much better quality than the other two, which looked like plain toothpicks in comparison.

Wado.

Robin had given him his most treasured possession, one of the many things he thought he'd never see ever again. If Zoro hadn't been so surprised, he would've exploded with joy and maybe even wondered how robin managed to get her hands on this.  
That woman remained a mystery to Zoro.

Mihawk's yellow eyes seemed so shine at the sight, and Zoro made him rip away his stare by glaring at the man once again.

"Dracule Mihawk."  
Zoro said, his voice to his relief steady and loud, without a single trace of fear.  
"I, Roronoa Zoro, challenge you to a duel."

From all the reactions Zoro had imagined, this was the one he least expected.  
The man had thrown his head in his neck, and was laughing at him.  
Zoro fumed with anger, and wanted to kill the man so bad right there, but that would be a shameful act, the act of a coward.

And Zoro wasn't a coward.

"May I inquire what you find so funny?"  
Zoro said, using snobby words to make him seem older and wiser.

But this only made Mihawk laugh harder to the point tears formed in the corners of his eyes.  
"My deepest apologies, child. "  
He chuckled at Zoro.  
"It's just that you've been the first to challenge me so officially, and on top of that you're the first of your age to do so!"

Zoro bristled angrily, his hand sliding towards his swords.  
"Do you, or do you not, accept my challenge?!"  
Zoro almost yelled at the man, his eyes wide and angry.  
Thankfully, Mihawk stopped laughing, now only smirking at Zoro.  
"I accept."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey, there is this thing I want to say before you read this, so yeah.**

**Well, it's about Zoro's battle with Mihawk, and why I have written it in the way I did. It is practically the same as in the anime/manga, even though Zoro is obviously much younger in this fanfiction. My reason for this is because well, the difference in strength is already huge when he is 19, and it is huge when he is 7. I rewatched the battle, and all Mihawk does for the most part is just defend himself against Zoro's attacks. Zoro is obviously younger, but he still can swing a sword right? The major difference is that this battle is much sorter, and Zoro's attacks are much less powerful. **

**With this said, enjoy!**

Chapter Three: 237

"What's the meaning of this?!"

Zoro threw Mihawk his most heated glare while he gestured to the small knife the other man held in his hand. Zoro couldn't remember the last time he was this offended, and even though he knew it was to be expected that an adult would go easy on a seven year old boy, he couldn't help but be very angry. After all, age did not define skill. Zoro was obviously all too aware of his still undeveloped body, but he hated the fact Mihawk judged him by his height nevertheless.

"I'm not like those fools who give it their all while hunting rabbits." Mihawk said with his usual expressionless face and tone, only irking Zoro more.

The man glanced at the teeny tiny knife which had hung around his neck at first, and sighed.

"Even though you do come from Japan, and you somehow managed to get your hands on Wado Ichimonji, that does not mean you are strong enough to kill time with. It's unfortunate that I don't have anything smaller at the moment."

If Zoro had already been offended by the knife itself, you can imagine how pissed he became at Mihawk's sarcastic remarks.

"STOP MOCKING ME!" Zoro yelled.

He charged forward, determined to defeat Mihawk, even if it cost him his life.

It seemed, looked and was pretty hopeless.

Every time Zoro sped up, Mihawk tripled his own speed, blocking every blow Zoro tried to deliver.

Zoro had thought that he was in the advantage, with Wado and the two katana Mihawk let him burrow from the small dojo on the top of a hill close to the mansion, but how wrong had he been.

As Zoro kept whacking the three swords on the tiny knife, there was one sentence that came back over and over.

_You're weak as usual Zoro._

Zoro realized that Mihawk wasn't attacking at all, he just focused on defense, which angered Zoro to the point of biting down on wado so hard he heard his teeth chipping.

"Such unrestrained skill" Mihawk breathed without Zoro noticing.

At last, after what seemed like hours of attacking without even doing as much as _grazing_ the other man, Mihawk's arm shot forward and before Zoro realized it, the knife cut trough his shirt and chest, drenching the fabric in red. The adrenaline in his system blocked his sense of pain, so Zoro only noticed the graveness of the injury when he looked down.

Zoro stared at it, but did not move away.

"Why don't you step back?"Asked Mihawk, carefully studying the face of the boy. "Do you want this to go through your heart?"

Zoro thought a while before answering with a frown.

"I'm...not sure myself,"

He began.

"But I've got this strange feeling that if I step away now, it would be like giving up, and all those important promises and oaths till now, will got to waste and I'll never be able to face you again."

"...What is your motive?" Mihawk asked after a while, but it sounded more like a command than a question.

"To become the greatest!" Zoro said without even wasting a second.

Mihawk smiled the tiniest of smiles.

"Fool," he chuckled softly.

"Are you brave or just very reckless, challenging me like this even though you know you can't beat me."

Zoro ignored Mihawk and continued talking.

"That is why I can't step back."

"Even if it means death?"Mihawk questioned.

Zoro grinned a wicked grin.

"Death may be better!"

Mihawk didn't seem surprised or taken aback by this at all, but he in fact, was.

'_what strong will!' _he thought. '_to choose death over defeat...'_

Mihawk removed the tiny knife, and sheathed it.

"Could you repeat your name, kid."

"Roronoa Zoro."

Zoro announced while he prepared for his secret move, in other words, his last resort.

Mihawk grinned.

"I'll remember that, Roronoa Zoro."

the man's hand reached for his back, and Zoro could feel his heart thumping in his throat.

"It's been a while since I saw I saw a will this strong," Mihawk continued.

"as a reward, I will wield this 'Black sword', the most powerful sword on the planet to end your life."

While Mihawk said this, he removed the biggest sword Zoro had ever seen in his life from his back.

"I appreciate your offer."

Zoro answered, and he charged at the same time as Mihawk did.

Three dreadful seconds passed before the blood gushed out of the wound on Zoro's chest, and he smiled at this.

Oddly enough, he was okay with dying now. He would die for his ambition and he would be able to face Kuina later on. Yeah. He was okay with this.

Zoro turned around, and spread his arms.

"What is this?" Mihawk asked.

"A cut to the back is a swordsman's shame." Zoro answered.

There was a flash of Mihawk's grin before everything turned red.

The last thing Zoro could remember were a few faces hanging over him, all calling his name.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_You're lucky Zoro. Because you're a boy._

_I-I want to be the worlds best too, but that's impossible for me, since I'm a __**girl.**_

_It's a promise!_

…

_Zoro!_

_No!_

_RUN!_

_You promised Zoro!_

…

_Fool._

_Are you brave or just very reckless, challenging me like this even though you know you can't beat me._

_Even if it means death?_

…

_The world's greatest swordsman huh?_

_As the pirate king's companion, if you're not at least that, I'd be in a dilemma!_

…

_You're weak as usual, Zoro._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zoro woke with tears streaming down his face.

Whether is was because of the burning pain in his chest, or the nightmare, he didn't really care or know.

But that dream...Or nightmare, there was something very _very_ weird about it.

It had been a selection of memories, which all reminded Zoro of his promise and what a failure he was, but that wasn't the strange part.

Luffy had been in it as well, and he wasn't 5, no, he looked much older, about 15 years old, and his voice wasn't nearly as high. It was as if Zoro had looked into the future or something. But what Luffy had said didn't make sense at all. What is a pirate king?

Zoro didn't understand at all, and wiped his tears away just when someone knocked on his door.

Not waiting for Zoro's answer, the person opened the door, and Robin's head appeared from behind it.

"Oh..." Robin said, as if she hadn't expected Zoro to be awake.

"Good morning, Swordsman-San."

Zoro smiled a bit at the nickname he while Robin walked towards him.

"How are you feeling?"

she asked.

"Does your wound hurt?"

Zoro looked down at his chest, almost choking as he saw the bandages and some weird string stuck in his wrist. He glanced to the small bag of blood hanging beside his bed and he groaned. Great.

Robin saw him looking and patted his hand.

"Kureha said you were lucky to be alive,"

Robin said with a faint smile on her face.

"not many survive after they fight Mihawk."

Zoro turned his head away. Mihawk hadn't killed him on purpose, even though he had said he would end his life. The man had had mercy on him, and Zoro didn't like it. When he had lost from Mihawk he had been prepared to die, he wasn't willing to live with the shame of his loss, and yet the man had let him live.

Zoro thought Mihawk would understand as fellow swordsman, and just have killed him when he promised, but Zoro was wrong about the man as usual. It wasn't like Zoro couldn't understand why he did it, he was a child after all, but Zoro felt like a failure anyway.

Zoro chewed on his bottom lip and didn't notice he was crying until Robin pointed it out.

"Why are you crying?" she asked, his worry evident in his tone.

Zoro didn't even feel the need to wipe the tears away as he answered.

"Did you ever train for something almost your entire life, every single day and very hard, so that you would be ready when the time came, only to find out that your goal is still as far away as it was before you started training?"

Robin thought for a while, and met Zoro's gaze with piercing blue eyes.

"Is this about Mihawk?"

The girl asked with a gentle voice.

Zoro nodded and wiped the tears from his cheeks, but they were quickly replaced by the ones streaming out of his eyes again.

"Why did you fight him?" Robin asked after a second or three.

"I promised my sister..."Zoro sniffed, trying to stop the downpour of tears.

"before I came here, I lived in a dojo with my father and sister. We weren't related by blood, but they were the best family I could have wished for. Kuina, my sister, we promised each other that either of us would become the world's best swordsman. She was killed not so soon after that."

Any other person would've apologized, but Robin just muttered a soft "I see", and Zoro appreciated that. He didn't need anyone's pity.

"Mihawk..."

Zoro continued.

"The gap between me and him, it's like an abyss... How could I ever have thought I could beat him?! How come I could be so stupid and weak! I wish he had just killed me there and then, so I wouldn't have to live with this shame!"

Zoro didn't hold back the tears and sobs anymore, and he just felt completely hopeless and useless.

He had let Kuina and Kashiro die, the dojo burn down, he had been stupid enough to think he could defeat Mihawk and had challenged him only to be beaten to a pulp. The only positive thing Zoro could think of was that he still had Wado, and he didn't even did that himself. What a fool he was.

"But Swordsman-San,"

Robin said, sitting down on the bed next to him.

"if you would've died, then who will fulfill your promise?"

Zoro didn't answer her.

"Aren't you going to fight Mihawk again?"

"Didn't you hear me?!"

Zoro snapped at Robin, who didn't even flinch under the glare and the yelling of the younger boy.

"It doesn't matter how much I train! I might as well die here and now, it's not like it would make any difference!"

Robin just regarded Zoro's little outburst with a calm manner, which surprised Zoro. He had thought she would've been a bit surprised in the least.

Zoro looked down at his hands, and whispered, "I'm sorry Robin..."

He looked up to meet her gaze, and he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under her piercing eyes.

"I...I just want to die. It's a swordsman's thing I guess. You wouldn't understand."

"No, swordsman-San,"

Robin smiled at him, causing Zoro to frown.

"_You're _the one who doesn't understand."

"Wha-"

Zoro begun, but he was immediately interrupted by Robin.

"Aren't you just hiding your sadness and behind your shame, which is actually non-existent compared to your other feelings?"

Don't you just want to die because you don't want to feel the pain anymore?"

Zoro turned his head away.

It didn't took very long for him to realize she was right, but he admitted to himself that his defeat played a role in this as well.

"How did you know?" Zoro breathed.

"You're not the only one with a rocky past Zoro."

Robin said with an obviously forced smile on her face.

"Everyone I ever loved died for their shared dream. As the only survivor I took it upon myself to fulfill that dream, and when I failed, I wanted to die as well. But then I realized that that wouldn't get me anywhere. If I died without fulfilling that dream, I'd be so ashamed. And look were I am now. I guess I'm happy here, and I'm still working on that dream."

Robin raised from the bed, and walked towards the door. After she opened it she turned around once more.

"Remember Swordsman-san,"

she said.

"Life is like a book. One bad chapter doesn't mean there won't be a happily ever after."

And with that, she disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As usual, Zoro had a sleep full of odd dreams

"...so he isn't a logia."

"No he isn't. that would be highly unlikely considering how he got cut. There has jet to be a case who is in full control of his or her powers at this age. Although I do suppose there is a first for everything."

"Okay, so logia is out. Zoan too, his aura has an entire different feeling to it."

"And paramecia?"

"We would've noticed that."

"Yes, that's true. "

"…"

"...You don't suppose we've made a mistake, do you?"

"Ridiculous. Even Luffy sensed it. And he never even tries to. The lazy kid."

"Do you perhaps have some seastone, Akagami-San?"

"...strange enough, I do. It's in the nightstand next to the bed. "

"Thank you."

Zoro opened his eyes when he felt something rough press against his hand, and he stared at Robin in shock while she removed her hand, leaving the strange dark rock on his.

It didn't take very long for Zoro to realize that the dream he had before awakening wasn't actually a dream, but that only confused him.

Eying the stone, Robin and Shanks, he supposed that they were the ones talking, but what was with the weird usage of "logica" and what was a Zoan and para something?

And what the hell had this weird stone to do with it?

"Good morning, swordsman-San. How do you feel? A bit weak perhaps?" Robin smiled at Zoro, her eyes not looking at his but a his hand and the stone.

Zoro frowned at the woman and her suspicious behavior, but seeing how it was Robin, he shook it off.

"Well, as I have been sliced and almost bled to death, I would be fairly surprised to see I am not the slightest bit weakened." Zoro said, mimicking Robin's speech and tone. Zoro thought she looked a bit tired, but he was distracted from his thoughts as Robin spoke to him.

"How about now swordsman-San?"

Robin asked while she wiped the stone away, letting it fall on the ground.

"Do you feel any different?"

"No,"

Zoro answered.

"Should I be?"

Robin didn't answer him, and instead turned to Shanks, who seemed to be lost in thoughts.

As Robin sat down gracefully, Zoro shifted so he could look at Shanks and Robin and wondered what the little gathering and the strange questions were about, and when he was just about to ask, Robin interrupted him.

"Swordsman-San?"

Zoro frowned at that, it still was beyond him why the young woman addressed him so politely.

"Have you ever swum in the sea?"

"Yes?"

Zoro responded, making it sound more like a question than an answer

"I see..."

Robin muttered, probably more to herself than to Zoro.

Shanks seemed to be really confused at this point, and after a few seconds of silence he sighed loudly and rubbed his temples.

"Robin..."

He began, his eyes closed.

"I can't think of another solution. Could you perhaps catch Brook for me?"

"Certainly."

Robin nodded while she gracefully left the room, her head and back so straight it looked painful but not unnatural unless if you looked for a while.

It remained a mystery to Zoro how someone this young could be so polite, calm and so...mature.

Well, it probably had something to do with her past, but Zoro couldn't help but be amazed.

Without a doubt, Robin behaved much more like an adult than most of the actual adults Zoro would ever meet.

As the door softly fell close behind robin, Zoro started to feel very awkward.

Because lying down all the time wasn't even near comfortable, Zoro shifted so he could sit up.

Immediately he winced in pain and he felt Shanks' worrying gaze on his face. He looked up and smiled weakly, as if saying he was fine. With a little effort Zoro managed to sit in a sort of comfortable manner, and just then the door swung open.

Robin entered, carrying...well, something.

At first it appeared to be some sort of black bush, which soon turned into an Afro, and then in a skeleton with an Afro. Well, if Zoro wasn't so incredibly surprised and if it hadn't been Robin carrying said skeleton, Zoro would've screamed and jumped out of the window, in fear that the Afro-skeleton would be the exact picture of his future. Without the Afro presumably though. And the funky clothes perhaps.

As Zoro sat in his bed, completely horrified and staring at the skeleton, he noticed a bubble of snot coming out of the skeleton's nose. Or where his nose used to be. In Zoro's experience, skeletons and dead people in general did not have any snot to begin with, or Afros for that matter. But then again, in Zoro's experience people with common sense did not have skeletons in their mansions.

As Robin saw Zoro staring in disbelief, she smiled at the boy.

"Don't worry,"

She said, trying to reassure Zoro with a comforting tone.

"He's not dead, he's just sleeping."

_'Okay. That is so not reassuring.'_

"How's a skeleton even able to sleep? And what did you mean 'he's not dead'?!"

Zoro ranted as he gestured with wild flaps of his arm to the skeleton, which was placed down on the third chair in the room.

"A long time ago,"

Robin said as she sat down.

"There were pirates roaming over the seas."

Zoro could only stare at the young woman in disbelief.

"Almost all these pirates roamed an infamous and dangerous sea in search of the legendary treasure One Piece. The one who would get his or her hands on said treasure, would receive the title Pirate King, and be the one with the most freedom on the entire planet."

Shanks said, causing Zoro to frown at him instead.

"But,"

Robin said while glancing at Shanks in an annoyed manner, taking over again.

"This era of pirates passed before even one of them even caught a glimpse of that treasure.

Until today, it remains in it's original state, with the ones who put it there was long gone."

Robin gestured to the skeleton, saying, "Brook was one of these pirates."

_'Great,'_ Zoro thought. _'They named a skeleton and believe in some sort of sick fairytale. They're completely mad! Well, at least this isn't an orphanage, but I don't believe I prefer this above that...'_

Whilst Zoro was making plans to escape in his head, Robin continued her sick story telling.

"But, something long forgotten by most, are the strange powers some of these pirates possessed. Not only pirates owned these, no, ordinary villagers and marines and even objects gained these powers after consuming an odd fruit which is said to be the reincarnation of a sea devil. In exchange for his gifts, the consumer also known as a devil fruit user, gave up the ability to swim."

This caught Zoro's attention, was Robin finally going to explain the Akuma no mi thing?

"But,"

Shanks said, ignoring the glare shot in his direction.

"That these powers are forgotten does not mean they just stopped existing. In fact, there are two devil fruit users present in this room."

_'what?_' Zoro thought. _'What if they're not mad, but just the only ones that know the truth? Wait, their weirdness is getting to me too!'_

But then Zoro remembered the arms Robin managed to summon out of nowhere, and suddenly, the sick fairytale turned into a legend. A legend which Zoro might believe in in the future.

Instead of making a run for it like he planned at first, he stared at Robin with wide eyes as another three arms appeared out of nowhere. His mouth popped open a bit as he watched them disappear, and he stared at Robin and Shanks. Before he could react, or even close his mouth, Robin carefully nudged the skeleton, as if she didn't want to hurt him.

"Brook-San,"

She said with a firm but gentle tone.

"Please wake up now."

This confused Zoro, until he actually saw the skeleton who's name was Brook _move._

Brook, who was supposed to be _dead_, fucking _moved.. _

First, Brook yawned, stretching his bones as if they were sore, and then he turned to Shanks and Robin, who acted as if nothing was wrong.

And then, as if this wasn't enough for Zoro's poor damaged heart to handle, the man opened his mouth, or where his mouth used to be, and spoke.

"Good morning,"

The skeleton said in the voice of an old man, which wasn't all too surprising.

"Robin-San, Shanks-San."

Zoro could only watch paralyzed as the man turned to him, somehow managed to smile with bones only, and asked Zoro for his name. Zoro didn't answer, and tried to think of a way this was possible.

The skeleton obviously didn't have any vocal chords, or ears or eyes, so how did the man know he was there?

Was there perhaps a hidden camera somewhere? Was someone hidden underneath the clothes of "Brook"? Ventriloquism?

No matter how many reasons Zoro came up with in those few seconds, they all seemed to be as impossible as a talking skeleton. Besides, Robin could grow extra arms, and Zoro seemed to accept that much easier.

"I..."

Zoro managed to choke out in his confusion and shock.

"I'm Zoro."

Brook laughed cheerfully.

"Yohoho, it's very nice to meet you, Zoro-San. My name is Brook."

"Brook ate the yomi yomi no mi."

Robin explained as if it would be taken for granted Brook did.

"Thus he revived after his death."

"wait,"

Zoro said, eyes still wide and his heart pounding in his chest.

"This isn't some kind of sick joke to scare me, is it?"

"Really Zoro,"

Robin smiled at him sweetly.

"If I wanted to scare you, I would've done it in the middle of the night, and with my powers I-"

Shanks placed his hand on Robin's shoulder, gently silencing her.

"That's enough."

He said.

"we wouldn't want Zoro to get even more nightmares, do we, dear?"

Zoro frowned at that.

"How do you know I've been having nightmares?"

Shanks looked in Zoro's eyes, and scratched his chin.

"Well, that brings us to the second part of this story..."

"There's more?!"

Zoro asked in disbelief.

Robin, Shanks and Brook looked at their hands or feet. (Or at least, Robin and Shanks did. Brook just tilted his head downwards and Zoro could only guess what he looked at.)

"Unfortunately, yes Zoro, there is more to this."

Shanks said, looking up again.

"Even if we all would be off much better if there wasn't."

Uh-oh. Zoro wasn't sure if he liked where this was going.

"For some reason, many of these pirates, have been...reincarnating. We've managed to find 237 people, including you." Shanks said, his face hard to read.

But reading Shanks' face was the last thing Zoro thought of at that moment.

It was all so confusing, and incredibly messed up. Zoro's family was dead, he seemed to be taken in by a load of freaks, who were mad above that, (or just right, but Zoro hated to admit this at that point, it only made it more confusing,) and he had challenged Mihawk, who had defeated him without an effort, and now Zoro's entire view of what was logical and what was not was turned upside down. And now Zoro thought about it, Mihawk might be an oh-so-called devil fruit user as well, and he had used his power to defeat Zoro. Hell, to defeat any enemy he ever faced before.

In other words, Zoro wasn't sure what to think, do, say, believe... Zoro wasn't sure of anything. For all he knew, this might be another nightmare as well.

Seemingly unaware of Zoro's current state of mind, Shanks continued his story.

"We found this people using our senses. It might sound odd, but we feel it when someone or _something _is different from others, and how different he or she or it is. We call these levels of difference layers.

When someone only has one layer, this person has no ability, but he is a reincarnated pirate, marine or whatever he used to be in another life. When someone has two, said person is and reincarnated, and is a devil fruit user. Are you following this?"

Zoro nodded, but he in fact didn't really understand at all.

"But the weird thing is, Zoro,"

Shanks muttered, while he seemed to be deep in thought as well.

"You have two layers, but you most definitely do not have a devil fruit ability. This is why we have Brook. Since brook knew you in a past life, he can tell us what you did for living, how long you lived, your powers, fame and strength, and much more."

Shanks glanced at brook, who nodded.

"Well, Zoro, it's better for you if you don't know when you'll die and what your future holds, so let's get dinner shall we? They're waiting for us after all. "

Shanks said while smiling apologetic at Zoro.

Zoro nodded, and winced as he got out of his bed. It was painful to walk, but he managed somehow.

As he walked towards the door, he realized this was his chance to run for it, but as his stomach growled he figured it wouldn't hurt to stay for a bite.

As the door closed behind him, he followed Shanks who was walking in front of him.

Zoro couldn't help but stare at the beautiful decorated ceiling above him, and he amazed at how soft the red carpet felt underneath his bare feet. The hallway was like the one in that fancy hotel Kuina and Zoro once entered because of curiosity, with pretty mahogany doors on each side. These doors even have numbers!

Zoro bumped into shanks as the man stopped walking all of the sudden, and turned around to face the boy.

"I guess you won't make the best of impressions in your pajamas, huh Zoro?"

The man mumbled and he made a turn and entered room No. 50.

Zoro awkwardly stood in the doorway, watching shanks and the room in silence. It was a bit like the room he always seemed to be in, with a big window and a bed, desk, closet and bookcase. Only this one seemed very personalized, like someone lived there instead of a hotel room like Zoro's.

Shanks turned around with a white blouse and a regular jeans about Zoro's size and while Zoro put them on, Shanks placed some socks and old tattered sneakers in front of him.

"Sorry kid,"

Shanks said while putting the clothes he had thrown on the ground while he was searching for ones that Zoro would fit back in his wardrobe.

"I know it's nothing like your comfy kendo-uniform, but this is all I've got in your size."

As Zoro rolled up the way to long sleeves, shanks started walking down the hallway again, and Zoro quickly followed him. Zoro was actually quite impressed Shanks managed to do all these things with only one arm. He still wondered about it, but knew better than to ask.

"You're probably wondering where you are, huh Zoro?"

Shanks suddenly said, making Zoro jump a bit.

"Well, to put you out of your misery, this isn't an orphanage or place for mad people. Even though it does seem a little bit like that."

'_a little?' _Zoro thought while rolling his eyes, thinking Shanks wouldn't see.

"No really,"

Shanks chuckled.

"Remember when I said we found 237 people like us before? This mansion is the home of these people. We search for them, and make sure they understand who they are and what they must beware of. To not get into too much trouble, we adopt everyone so we don't rise any suspicion. Including you Zoro. So everyone here is kinda your sibling... I know it's hard to accept, and I don't expect you to, but please try to get along with everyone okay?

There are manors like this one all around the world who take in these people to protect them against the 'World Government', but this one is the biggest."

Zoro stared at Shanks. _'World government? You've got to be kidding me.'_

"Oh, no, it's just a name they kept out of tradition, they used to rule the seas in the great pirate age, but they're nothing more than a group of conservative madmen against devil fruit users now."

Shanks said as he saw him looking.

"How come what you say is so different from what I've learned at school? I mean, why should I believe all of this?"

Zoro asked Shanks, who looked at him like he didn't even know himself.

"...Well, I guess the only proof we have are the devil fruit users and Brook, so I don't expect you to believe this immediately, but you probably will in the future."

Shanks smiled after a moment of thought.

"And the World Government, they are very good in destroying evidence, the one who knows this best is Robin, but I'd rather not want you to ask her about it, she becomes so sad when she talks about her past."

Zoro somehow felt a bit guilty for asking Robin about her past when shanks said that, the man had probably noticed the girl's mood yesterday...if that was yesterday.

"The World Government once destroyed everything historical from one century, which from then on was then called the void century. They did a similar thing to the age of pirates, but they replaced things so it wouldn't raise any suspicion."

Shanks continued.

Zoro pondered about this for a bit, and then said, "So everything I've learned about that age is all a lie? It's not true at all?"

Shanks shook his head.

"For all I know, it's not."

Zoro thought this was all very hard to believe, but it wasn't impossible or unlogical. Not really, except...

"But why would they do that?"

Zoro asked wonderingly.

"Why would you change history? What is there to gain?"

"Money and power."

Shanks said with a disgusted look on his face.

"They want to find One Piece themselves, with no one interfering their search, and they don't want anyone to know about the fruits. They want their powers for themselves only. The World Government is ruled by royals, some of a pure bloodline which has been going on for centuries and some of the well known royals. I don't exactly know which ones, but that doesn't make it less horrible."

"But why do we need protection against them?"

"They have a great amount of assassins, all to murder devil fruit users and reincarnations. You see, if a devil fruit user is murdered, his fruit reappears somewhere in this world, which they immediately gather and keep for themselves. Greedy pigs."

Shanks seemed genuinely angry, and the hate was evident in his voice.

"Why do we reincarnate? There must be a reason for it, right?"

"I would love to have an answer ready for that Zoro, but sadly, I don't. I can't help thinking we have to find One Piece, but there aren't many willing to risk their lives."

Shanks said sadly, chewing on his bottom lip.

"They have nightmares you see, just like you. They get flashbacks from themselves in past lives and get scared...they want to live normally while they still can. Of course, you have exceptions, like those three idiots, but I'm seeing less and less of said exceptions. I myself set out on the sea more than once, but I'm always called back for some kind of urgent case..."

Zoro decided to remain silent for the rest of the walk. He had so many questions, but somehow he felt that if he asked them now, he'd only get more confused.

When they were walking down a stair just as grandiose as the hallway, Shanks seemed to remember something.

"Oh Zoro,"

The man said, catching Zoro's attention.

"About your fight with Mihawk..."

Zoro felt his heart sink and guilt boil in his gut.

"Mihawk was impressed."

Shanks smiled, and Zoro's eyes widened.

"I think he is willing to teach you if you ask him nicely."

After Shanks said that, they reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in a large room with four big doors.

"This door leads to the garden,"

shanks said pointing at the door in front of them whilst walking.

"and the one in the back to more rooms. This one on the right to the living room and library, and this one..."

shanks said while placing his hands on the huge door.

"...Leads to the dining hall."

They entered a large wood-floored dining room full of people milling around the enormous dining table ,and in and out the big kitchen to the right of where Zoro was standing. The room was about as big as the largest training room in the dojo, and was as least ten times as big as Zoro's had been.

As Zoro watched the hugeness of it all in awe, someone bumped into him, changing the subject of his attention.

"Sorry!" The blue haired girl who was slightly younger said before running off again, disappearing in the kitchen before Zoro could do as much as open his mouth.

Zoro watched the big mass of humans run around in front of him, and he noticed most of them were children. At least half of the children were older-seeming and larger than Zoro, and the other half was either his age or a bit younger. There were no kids who seemed to be younger than three or older than eighteen, and even though this usually this wouldn't be a surprise at all, Zoro admitted he raised an eyebrow at this.

Concerning the adults, Zoro could only spot women who carried huge stacks of plates and baskets filled with bread.

Nobody took notice of Zoro. True enough, somebody had said, "good he's here, we can eat at last", but no one really looked at Zoro or introduced him or herself.

Not that Zoro cared, they were probably as mind destroying as Robin or as stupid as Luffy.

Even though Zoro kept convincing himself this, he couldn't help feeling rejected and perhaps a bit lonely.

Shanks left Zoro standing beside the stairs on his own, and threaded his way to the kitchen, shouting.

"Makino! Sorry for the delay dear, the new kid had to meet Brook first so that took a while."

Zoro stood. His arms hung slightly outwards from the rest of his body, and his hands dangled, useless and floppy with strangeness. (It hurt a bit to cross his arms or anything with his injury.)

He had never been in a room with so many people before in his entire life. He was used to the silent rooms of the dojo where it was always silent when there weren't any students, and when there were, no one ran around or screamed when it wasn't whilst training.

These children were so lively and _loud_.

He didn't know who any of them were apart from shanks, who was walking next to a green haired lady carrying a huge pan identical the one he was transporting, and the Baka-trio sitting at the table with a few others.

Seeing them laugh and having fun made Zoro feel even lonelier and he missed Kuina and Kashiro more than ever.

Zoro sighed. The other thing about the long, running and screaming siblings were that they all wore either jeans or trousers with pockets down the sides and colorful tops. Zoro realized that his kendo uniform was quite out of place, and as result of dirtying them he would wear clothes like the ones the other wore in the future.

Not that he planned on staying.

Even thought here were loads of persons, there was clearly one that stood out the most. He was about as old as Zoro, had wild red hair and some goggles in that red wilderness, and he was constantly pulling at the hair of girls and stepping on others' feet, or he was trying to pickpocket them. Zoro learned his name too, because every minute or so, someone screamed,"Kidd, do that again and you DIE!"

_'These people are my siblings_!'Zoro thought wonderly.

_'And I didn't knew any of them before today.'_

Zoro didn't realize he had acknowledged them as his siblings, because his train of thought was interrupted by Kidd, who was standing in front of him.

He was standing with his arms and hands in the same position as Zoro's and his feet 6 inches apart.

"What's with you fucker?" He said, a scowl on his face. "Dirty outcast."

Zoro blinked at the rude language of the boy, and tried to answer without any insults.

"I'm your sibling, bastard."

Hey. tried.

Kidd laughed at that and spat on the ground. "Heh sure. " Kidd smirked. "You're not my sibling. My father is Shanks and he is your adoptive father. That's all, green head. "

'_oh. So Shanks adopted everyone huh? Well,I suppose I can live with that.'_

Zoro felt things inside him boil he'd much rather not know, and he had the sudden urge to jump Kidd and rip pieces of his body off. Ears, nose, hair, it didn't particularly matter to Zoro as long as it came off with a lot of blood.

Luckily for Zoro and Kidd, at that moment the green haired woman appeared by their side.

"Oh dear." She said to Zoro. "I'm sorry I didn't come to your rescue earlier. I was working on the sauce you see, and you know what happens if you leave it unattended for to long, it becomes all lumpy."

The woman glared at Kidd, not seriously trying though, and said, "shoo Kidd, go bother someone else, Law for example. "

Suddenly Zoro felt incredibly sympathetic for whoever his Law person might be.

"I'm Makino." Said the woman. "I'm kind of waiting till that idiot shanks proposes to me, but that'll take another few years, but I guess I can say I'm his future wife, if that isn't too presumptuous. I am sort of the mother figure around here, if you need anything don't feel shy to ask, nice to meet you...err..."

"I'm Zoro." Answered Zoro while shaking the hand the woman offered him.

"Now, let's introduce you to the rest shall we?" Makino said cheerfully.

Zoro, who had gone almost limp with relief to have gotten rid of Kidd and to meet a normal person, tensed up at the idea of introducing himself.

He had never been good with words, and now they were all going to despise him. And no matter how many times Zoro said to himself he didn't care, he did.

"It's time for dinner brats!" A rather large woman with orange hair said, and to be honest, she looked more like a man with boobs that a woman. The children cheered and the seats around the table filled which them, and they all continued being noisy as they sat.

"Sit down here, Zoro-kun."

Said Makino, gesturing to (miracle above miracle) the only empty seat left, the one between a raccoon like boy with a big white hat and Luffy, who was grinning at him like a madman.

As the last few cloches were placed down, shanks, who sat at the head of the table tapped his glass with a fork. "Can I have your attention please?" He said, but half of the children continued talking. After a few more tries, Makino smiled sweetly and said with a normal volume,"He asked for your attention. Please shut up now. "

Everyone went dead silent, and Zoro got rid of the thought of her being a normal person. _'Man she is just as intimidating as Robin. Women are frightful beings...'_

As all eyes were finally on Shanks, he began talking.

"I know there have been rumors going around, that there has been found a new devil fruit user. I will put an end to these rumors. They are true and false. "

Shanks, who was obviously a man who liked a bit of drama, paused at that point, keeping a straight dead serious face while his eyes glided over the surprised and confused faces of the children. As they started whispering, Makino smiled sweetly, and not to soon after one person noticed, it went silent again.

"We have checked it a million times, and there is no mistaking it. He has two layers, and yet..." Shanks said, pausing once again.

"He is not a devil fruit user. This is obviously very confusing, not only to you but to us as well, but we're trying everything to find out what the second layer is. "

"How do you know for sure he isn't a devil fruit user? He could be hiding his abilities!"

Someone shouted from across the table.

Zoro leaned forwards to look at the challenging face of a red haired girl, who stuck her tongue out when she saw him looking. Zoro glared at her, but snapped his head to his right when he heard someone chuckling. It stopped before he could see who it was, but he highly suspected Robin, who smiled and had her hand hiding it.

"Nami, behave." Shanks shot the redhead a warning look before answering her question. "We are sure. Sea salt didn't do anything, he never noticed something different about himself, and brook said he did not eat one. "

After shanks said this, everyone gasped in unison and immediately turned silent, all too afraid to ask the question lying on everyone's tongue. Finally, after a short moment of silence, the same blue haired girl who had bumped into him before asked it while looking at her hands.

"...what did Brook-San say?"

She mumbled, so soft everyone was just barely able to hear it.

Zoro didn't think she spoke so soft because she was shy, it was more like she as anxious...scared even.

Shanks bit his bottom lip before saying, "Roronoa Zoro, joined the strawhat crew at the age of nineteen, first mate, no devil fruit. Swordsman with the bounty of 500 million berries...lived a long and happy life. "

It went completely silent, like the silence before a storm, and after a second or three a hurricane seemed to roar trough the room. Everyone stared at Zoro in awe and Zoro just looked around for an explanation.

Luffy suddenly wrapped his arms around him, and Zoro almost choked when he saw how flexible they were, as if Luffy didn't have bones.

"Ughh..."

Zoro croaked as Luffy continued embracing him.

"Hey! Zoro!"

Luffy yelled in his ear, as if it was still necessary to say his name to get his attention.

"Did you hear that?"

"Mugiwara-ya,"

a voice to Zoro's right said.

"You might not want to strangle your first mate."

_'What? Whatwhatwhat? ? Wait...don't tell me...'_

Luffy released Zoro after that, and grinned at him.

"Welcome to the crew!"

Suddenly Zoro recalled his nightmare.

_The world's greatest swordsman huh?_

_As the pirate king's companion, if you're not at least that, I'd be in a dilemma!_

Suddenly, everything made sense, and Zoro unconsciously decided to believe all this.

"Silence everyone!"

shanks yelled over the noise, shushing the hurricane.

"I know it's a bit hard to believe that we've managed to find another big shot, a strawhat no less, but he is one of us after all. The gears of fate are starting to turn, so be prepared for anything. We can't let our guard down no matter what. And I won't be surprised if we find more big shots and strawhats in the near future. And Luffy, could you refrain from strangling your crewmates from now on?"

Luffy nodded seriously and Shanks smiled.

"Good. Now, let's eat before everything turns cold.

The rest of the dinner went by silent and non out of the ordinary, and before Zoro knew it, he was back in his room again. Careful to not reopen his wounds, he put on his pajamas and crawled into his bed.

It was a little difficult to take everything in, but after the fire Zoro didn't really care what happened anymore, as long as he could fulfill his promise to Kuina.

This in mind, he fell asleep, hoping that the nightmares would stay away this night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The following week, Zoro had learned so many new names his head was spinning, and the day wasn't even over yet!

Sitting down in hope it would chase the odd feeling away, Zoro sat down on a bench in the garden, a bit away from the crowd playing hide-and-seek.

Not too much later, he saw Luffy ace and Sabo running towards him, and pulling him up to join them.

This was the first time Zoro laughed since the accident, and he couldn't recall the last time he had so much fun.

Back at the dojo, he always declined whenever they asked if he played along, he didn't have time for "foolish" and "childish" things like that. But Luffy, Luffy just forced Zoro to go, if he liked it or not.

Somehow, it made Zoro feel safe and happy, as if that was what he really wanted all along.

As the sun started to set, they were called indoors, and the four of them started to walk back.

They were making some small talk, until Luffy carefully nudged Zoro.

"You aren't planning on staying, are you Zoro?"

The younger boy said, a serious expression on his face.

This surprised Zoro. The kid was much cleverer than he imagined him to be, he was sharper than most.

Now Luffy had mentioned it, he realized that he indeed hadn't planned on staying, he had planned to leave and take revenge on whoever killed Kuina and Kashiro, even if it took him his life.

So, after three seconds of staring at Luffy in surprise, Zoro answered.

"No... You're right. I'm not. "

The sudden change in behavior of the boy was amazing, as he went from dead serious to whiny.

He clung to Zoro's arm, and since he was taller, Zoro pulled Luffy forward as he walked.

"Zooooorooooo~! Why won't you staay! Didn't you hear? You're my first mate."

The boy groaned in Zoro's ear, causing the green head to frown.

"Yes," Zoro said. "When I turn nineteen I might just maybe perhaps return."

Luffy pouted at Zoro. "You will join my crew."

"No." Zoro said.

"Yeeees, you will," Luffy retorted, still clinging to Zoro, and before Zoro could refuse again, Luffy added, "captain's order!"

Zoro was about to tell the kid that he wasn't his captain, when he finally used his mind and considered his options.

If he left, where would he go? How would he go back to Japan? What would he do once he got there?

"Won't you at least consider staying?" Sabo asked, a pleading frown on his face.

"Besides," ace said

"You can't leave with your injuries can you. They're not healed yet are they?"

"I won't die." Answered Zoro vaguely, still thinking deeply.

"So are you recovered or not?" Ace said, not really grasping the meaning behind Zoro's words. Zoro stopped walking, and looked up to the setting sun while the light summer breeze played with his green hair. Zoro didn't answer Ace's question, and kept his mouth shut, making Luffy and the others frown in worry.

"Zoro? Are you all right?" Sabo asked the younger boy when he couldn't take the silence anymore.

"No."

Zoro answered with a strong voice.

"But I've got a promise to fulfill. "

They remained silent, still not really understanding Zoro.

"...sooo, you're staying?"

Zoro closed his eyes, and smiled without turning to them. If he'd say no, the boys would pursue him until he'd say yes, and achieving his and Kuina's dream was more important than taking revenge right now. besides, where else would Zoro go?

And maybe... Just maybe, he grew a tiny little bit affectionate for the big bunch of idiots. Perhaps he even would be able to call them family in the future.

So after another three seconds of silence, Zoro made his decision.

"Yeah," He said. "I'm staying."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**AN: I don't know, somehow this chapter feels a bit odd to me...**

**Well, it is pretty hard to write Zoro and the rest when they're younger, and I really apologize if they've turned out OOC, but they'll be older in a few chapters, so I'll just hope it gets better. **

**I barely managed to get this chapter on time, and it could be considered late even, (Sorry for that minna TT^TT) and since school is starting soon for me, I'll be posting monthly from now on. I think. Sorry I just suck with deadlines D: **

**I again want to thank everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed~! It really makes me happy to see people actually read this :D **

**Oh jea, what robin says about the life is a book thingy, I saw it on tumblr a while ago, so it's not mine and stuff. Speaking of Tumblr, I have one too and if you want to bother me about being a slow lazy bastard here's the URL : Shades-of-my-sky . Tumblr . Com **

**just remove the spaces and you're good. I think. **

**I'll be posting chapter 4 when I can, and reviews might help faster updates ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: hey guys, new chappah for yah. **

**I know I said I would be posting monthly and then long chapters, but then I got a beta, and he came with this awesome idea to split the chapters into smaller ones. I don****'****t know why I didn****'****t come up with that, (I****'****m a fucking idiot that****'****s why,) but I am following his advice. This way we won****'****t have to complain about the inconvenient length and I will be able to post more often. I hope. Well, I have a shitload of tests next week (9 what are those asses thinking school just startd jfc) and idk, my teachers are increasing the workload more an more and Latin is an annoying language don****'****t even think of it. But I think I will post a chapter anyway. Because procrastination is my best friend. **

**Well that****'****s that, now u can read thing.**

**Chapter four : Blue**

Before Zoro knew it, he was on the ground with a sharp cold blade pressed against his throat.

It had been another fruitless duel with his tutor, and he had once again failed miserably.

Being used to the disappointment of the loss, Zoro nudged the sword to the side and raised, sheathing his Katana.

The infamous man called Mihawk looked at Zoro with his cold eyes, and smirked.

"I guess that's another win for me, Roronoa."

He said, just like he did every single day.

After he too had sheathed his huge-ass sword, Mihawk picked up his hat and started to walk away.

"That's it for today. "

His voice rung trough the near empty dojo, still loud and clear even trough the big distance between his conversational partner.

"You're dismissed."

Zoro snorted softly and opened his bottle of water the moment the man left the building.

He heard the soft click of the door when it closed, and he quickly glanced towards it, making sure he was alone. After he was assured that this was the case, he shoved the bottle away in his bag, slung it over his shoulder and casually walked towards the back door.

The boy took deep breaths of the fresh air, and was once again amazed by the scenery.

He had seen it almost everyday for five years straight, but it never failed to take his breath away.

The grassy hills that could be seen everywhere, the bright flowers and blooming Sakura trees gracing them, and the huge old fashioned mansion surrounded by all of this and the grandiose forest...

The sight of it all was so amazing and fairytale like it was unbelievable.

Zoro snickered when he saw the small pink Sakura leaves whirl around him, which reminded him of some kind of shojo anime Luffy had forced him to watch.

It had been surprisingly stupid and cliché,yet Zoro had watched it till the end. It was...intriguing.

When Zoro finally finished with staring, he started walking further away from the dojo.

Since the dojo was located in the forest, Zoro often became lost on his way back to the mansion, and one day when he had lost his way, he stumbled upon a place even more enchanting.

Yes, Zoro got lost more than he should, but when he had to be somewhere, his feet always managed to get him there on time.

Zoro closed his eyes, listening closely to the sound of the forest, until he heard the soft splashing of a river.

He strained his ears, and started walking, following his instinct wherever that would lead him.

He felt the dew covered plants brush against his cheeks, cooling him down from his very short, but heated duel with Mihawk, and heard the soft sound of his bare feet touching the damp earth.

It was the feeling of the walks he often had with Kuina to the village.

Tracking the sound, he arrived at the spot without getting lost, something thought impossible by Zoro's friends.

He didn't stop to stare at this picture, since that would only make him stare the entire day, so he walked to the small river running trough the open field in the center of the forest.

The grass underneath his feet felt warm because of the hot sun shining down directly on it, and the wet flowers shimmered in the same light. As Zoro placed down his bag next to a small pond connected to the river with a collection of miniature waterfalls, he sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes again, meditating.

To be a swordsman you needed more than just brutish strength, speed and precise movements. You needed to excess in all senses, hearing and smelling with no exception. This was an exercise to improve his hearing, and his inner peace, which wavered more than he wished it would.

Taking deep and even breaths, Zoro continued meditating in the sunlight, and when it was about noon, Zoro suddenly opened his eyes and raised, opening the zipper of his bag.

Smiling, he slowly and very carefully lifted the swords out of his bag, which he fastened to his haramaki.

Zoro still recalled how happy he had been when he had spotted the familiar white hilt of Kuina's sword, and how the sword seemed to hum contently when he wrapped his hands around it.

The sadness, slight bitterness and the bittersweet joy that radiated from the sword, causing him to believe that somehow Kuina's and Kashiro's soul had transferred into the sword, making it even more powerful than before.

Zoro had been prepared to beg Shanks if he was allowed to wield the sword, even to steal and make a run for it even though he could have trained which Mihawk, but the red haired man gave it to him without any ruckus.

He had thanked the man so much his jaw started to ache, and even though Shanks had done much more than enough for the child, he even asked Zoro which how many swords he preferred to fight and allowed him to choose two more.

He didn't think he was able to be so happy after all what happened to him, but he seemingly still could. Sometimes he felt guilty about that, but he figured that it wouldn't make Kashiro and Kuina feel good if he turned into an emotional wreck.

Kitetsu and Shuusui, the other two of his three swords, were both dangerous and difficult to wield, but a little challenge was just what Zoro needed.

Even tough this challenge wasn't so little at all.

One was always, always, out for bloodshed and murderer, while the other was heavy as hell. Zoro somehow managed to be the one in control, but he just barely did so.

He picked up Shuusui and Kitetsu, undoing them from their protective cases, and he immediately felt the heaviness pressing down on him, reminding him he was just a child with an undeveloped body.

Zoro pushed the feeling away a bit, and felt the bloodlust of the other sword pump trough his veins, reminding him of his vow to destroy the ones who killed Kuina and Kashiro-Sensei.

The two swords reminded him of his past just as much as Wado did, the heaviness being the pressure of his promise, the bloodlust his craving for revenge, and Wado being his love for what he had left behind.

Instead of weakening him, like it would've with other people, it only strengthened Zoro in many ways.

Grabbing the hilt of Wado, he felt the familiar energy flow trough his veins, and when he unsheathed her, he believed he could take on the world.

Placing her in his mouth, he got in a stance and prepared to begin his second training, when he heard someone laugh behind him.

He slowly turned around, a fierce glare apparent on his face, ready to kill the one who dared to mock him, when his eyes fell upon the one who laughed at him.

It was a boy about Zoro's age, but he didn't look familiar to Zoro at all, so he wasn't from the mansion.

The boy had his pale skinny hand placed over his mouth, trying to muffle the sound of his laughter, and his big blue eye shone with amusement. The relatively long blonde locks that framed his face resembled gold, which gave him an angelic feeling.

He was so sweet looking, it made Zoro want to puke.

Zoro was sure that the kid was some kind of spoiled rich kid until he spotted the bandages covering one of his eyes, and his left wrist. And besides that, wasn't he a bit too skinny?

Finally, Zoro lowered his fighting stance and raised an eyebrow in annoyance. How long was this kid going to laugh already?

"What the fuck is so damn funny, you freak?"

Zoro hissed at him, causing the boy to shut his mouth and his blue eye to spit fire.

"Who is the freak here?"

The boy spat, looking like an entire different person.

"You're the one fighting with three toothpicks!"

Zoro growled, seeking for a suitable retort, when his eyes fell upon the boy's strange eyebrow which had been hidden behind his hair before.

"What did you say!?"

Zoro fumed angrily.

"You are the one with a dartboard as eyebrow. You mutant. "

Zoro smirked in content when he saw the fire in the blonde's eyes grow bigger with each word, and he smugly awaited for the kid to answer him.

"Me ... a mutant?"

The boy asked before almost chocking in a laughing fit. After he pretended to wipe a tear away, he copied Zoro's smirk.

"Look who's talking, marimo."

That silenced Zoro.

He never expected to hear that insult here, in Iceland, where everyone he knew only knew the term "akuma no mi" and honorifics what concerned Japanese.

He stood there, gawping in silence at the boy who mistook it for the gawping of defeat.

"Silent now are we, dumbass?"

He laughed at Zoro, a sly smile on his face.

Zoro heard a vein pop in his forehead.

"What?!"

He spat to the blonde.

"You wanna fight, you bastard?!"

"Sorry."

He said, apologetic smile on his face, adding to his facade.

"I don't fight girls. "

If there had been a part of Zoro who had liked this guy, that part completely disappeared then.

Zoro growled and glared at the kid, who probably just thought it was because of his insult.

Zoro felt Wado tremble in her sheath, and when he encaged the hilt in his hand to calm her, he felt something like a grudge flow trough his hand.

As if hit by a spark Zoro removed his hand, glared at the kid, and grabbed all three of his swords for battle.

This was a rare occurrence, Zoro only fought with all tree when facing Mihawk, to the relief of his fellow students.

Zoro spat on the ground before regaining his battle stance.

"Don't worry."

He said, anger evident in his voice

"There aren't any other girls around here. It's just you."

That seemed to spark something in the boy, and he lifted his leg while stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Zoro frowned, but then again, the boy wasn't the only one with a weird fighting style.

As the two were just about to charge, a loud booming voice rang trough the silence of the forest.

"SHITTY EGGPLANT!"

The voice yelled, causing Zoro to frown at the curse and the boy to flinch.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

...Is it normal to call out for a vegetable if you've lost it?

Nope. Definitely not.

But when the boy in front of him seemed to be frightened to death, and muttered a soft 'shitty old geezer' and an 'I'm coming already, shut up' before walking away, Zoro figured that it wasn't a vegetable who was lost.

When the boy disappeared from Zoro's sight, he lowered his defense and packed his swords, preparing to head for the mansion earlier than he had planned to.

"What the hell was that about..." He muttered to himself before leaving the open space.

XXX

Zoro was forced awake by the sound of tiny fists slamming on the door.

"ZORO! ZOROZOROZORO!"

A voice yelled at him trough a locked door.

"WAKE UP!"

Zoro lay in bed with his eyes open for a few more seconds, before getting up because Luffy was threatening he'd kick the door in. He picked up the key from the table in the corner of his room, and slowly unlocked the door.

Just like always he wasn't fast enough to jump to the side so he wouldn't get entangled in a big mess of rubber boy, and he felt something slam into him.

"Ugh...Luffy..." Zoro choked out, while pulling at the part of Luffy's arm that was wrapped around his throat. "You're...suffocating me.."

Luffy glanced down at Zoro, mumbled an 'oh sorry' and got of the older boy.

After Zoro had been lost in the forest for two and a half hours, he finally found the mansion and when he did, he headed straight for his bed and took a quick powernap. He had actually hoped to sleep until dinner, but judging from the clock on his left he had another hour to kill.

It wasn't rare for Zoro to be woken by Luffy around this hour, since Sabo and Ace were learning etiquette from Makino, and Luffy had decided that that was boring a long time ago. And since next to Ace and Sabo, Zoro was Luffy's favorite companion, he always decided to annoy him in his brothers' stead.

Zoro changed from his training uniform to his usual black slacks and combat boots, along with one of his many t-shirts. Meanwhile, Luffy was keeping Zoro up to date with the newest gossips.

"And I caught Franky staring at Robin. AGAIN. "

Luffy said with an air of importance, as if Zoro would die if he didn't hear this.

"But that's not the best I heard today."

Luffy said, hid face suddenly lighting up with excitement while he jumped up and down in his chair.

This sort of semi piqued Zoro's attention, and while he cleaned his swords carefully while sitting on his bed, he actually started listening to his best friend for a few seconds.

"I heard from Chopper that he heard from Usopp that Kaya told Usopp that she heard from Shanks who-"

Luffy ranted, Zoro not understanding a word he was sprouting.

Zoro raised his hand, cutting Luffy off who stared at him with big, questioning brown eyes.

"What?"

He dared to ask.

"Just get to your damn point Luffy."

Zoro sighed while rolling his eyes.

"We're getting a new sibling!"

Luffy cheered, a big grin on his face.

Zoro groaned while carefully putting his swords away.

'Please, not another ...''

Sure, it was a good thing in some sort of way, another Pirate to be rescued from terrible fate and blah blah blah, but the chances that Zoro was allowed to keep this room for himself alone were shrinking with every second.

And Zoro adored his privacy.

He could sleep without being disturbed, he didn't have to bother cleaning his room, and he could walk around naked if he wanted, but if he'd get a roommate that would all be over.

Zoro was already saying goodbye to these blissful times when Luffy came with some good news.

"But since he is wounded and weakened he has to undergo operation and he needs to rest a lot, so we won't be seeing him."

Luffy pouted, while Zoro did a little dance.

On the inside obviously.

Zoro blocked out Luffy's chatter when he realized that was it for the interesting stuff, and patiently waited for dinner time to arrive.

XXX

"Hey, did you hear?"

"No? What? Tell me, tell me!"

"About the newbie... The cause of his disappearance, it is a mysterious murderer..."

"EHHH?! REALLY?!"

Zoro ignored Ussop and Chopper as they made up reasons for the absence of the new brother, and instead focused on the huge stack of plates in his hands.

Three weeks later and there still hadn't been an announcement of the sibling. Rumor had it that he died, or Usopp had been telling lies as usual, which was actually highly likely.

Since the lack of staff and the hugeness of the house, everyone had at least three chores to do each day. Zoro had accepted this immediately though, since he had to do chores back at the dojo as well.

Placing the spotless plates on the table one by one, he glanced at Luffy, who once again was having trouble with the cutlery. Nami, a girl who recently joined Luffy's crew after Luffy had whined for years, flicked her fingers against his forehead, explaining that a sane person didn't eat cornflakes with a knife.

Zoro sighed and shook his head, averting his gaze to the kitchen doors, which had opened.

It suddenly went very quiet in the room as delicious odors made their way to the now silent children, and chefs they had never seen before started placing the dishes on the table. The chefs seemed to be French, as they kept scolding each other in that language.

They made quite the impression, all of them looking like criminals with beards and mustaches, all a pissed expression on their face.

Zoro quickly stepped aside, making way for a chef who placed a basket full of warm perfect croissants.

As the chefs finally left, there were three seconds of silence before everyone recovered from the shock and started walking towards the food.

As they sniffed and prodded the breakfast, Zoro scowled at the sight.

Idiots.

When he regarded his fascinated siblings, his eyes fell upon Luffy and Bonney, who looked like they were in their own personal heaven.

Which they probably were.

Before any of the two could inhale everything on the table, Robin, who had been assigned to supervise this, sensed danger and grabbed the two by the collar.

They struggled and struggled, but didn't escape the strong grip of the older girl, who continued reading a book in silence.

If everyone hadn't been so distracted by the food, they might have seen the tiny figure of a boy standing in the kitchen, his eyes glued to a certain green haired boy.

XXX

"Everyone!"

Shanks said loudly enough for everyone to hear, stopping some hands trying to reach for food.

"I've got an announcement to make."

Zoro saw how every head on the extremely long table turned his or her head to Shanks, and he would've laughed softly if he hadn't been used to the sight. They looked just like some horde of animals being called for dinner.

"You guys have to be rather dense if you haven't noticed," Shanks chuckled softly. "But Zeff, our beloved chef has returned~!"

As usual, Shanks' news caused an uproar. Most people cheered, and muttered a soft, "No wonder the food looks so good" or "Well, it was to be expected, did you see who took the food in", but there were also loads of kids who stared at Shanks and the rest in confusion. Including Zoro.

Zoro turned to Luffy, who was drooling over his lap and staring at the pork dish in front of him, completely mesmerized. It took a few firm shakes of the boy's shoulder before he seemed to notice Zoro calling him, and even then he seemed to throw glances at the food.

"Luffy!" Zoro hissed as the boy lost his focus. Again.

"Huh?" Luffy said surprised, turning to Zoro once again.

"Zeff, Luffy," Zoro repeated for his rather distracted sibling. "I asked if you knew who that is."

A spark seemed to catch in Luffy's big brown eyes, and a bit of drool escaped his lips.

"That man," Luffy spoke as if he was talking about his own personal god. "Is the best chef ever. You just wait till you set your first bite in that glorious meat Zoro!"

Zoro figured that he wouldn't get much more out of the boy than how good the food was, so he turned to Nami, who sat besides Luffy, looking as dignified as ever.

The redhead saw him looking at her with pleading eyes, and raised an eyebrow.

"What, Zoro?" She sighed

"Do you know who this Zeff person is?"

"Are you stupid?" She glared. "If everyone just shut his mouth then Shanks could explain."

Zoro thought about this for a while, decided she was right and waited till Makino silenced everyone as usual.

Shanks thanked Makino with a loving smile, and turned back at us to continue his speech.

"I understand that this is all very confusing, especialy for the ones who don't even know who Zeff is. Well, long story short, Zeff was our very own chef until he set out as a pirate, but he lost his leg for the new generation."

_'The new generation huh...?'_

"He managed to get to these shores after almost starving to death with a 10 year old boy and after heavy surgery, they are all right now!"

Shanks said with a grin plastered on his face, as if he was discussing today's weather.

"Well, you're all obviously much more interested in the food than the person who prepared it, so let's eat!"

After those words left Shanks' mouth, everyone practically jumped the food, and for the first time in a while, Zoro was envious of his devil fruit user siblings.

Since Zoro was fast, he had been able to gather his own share of food before any of the black holes (Luffy, Bonney etc.) swallowed all, but as he took his first bite of delicious tender meat he knew this wasn't near enough. As Zoro looked up, he realized several other had noticed this, and the dinner table had become a huge battlefield.

Obviously, he saw rubber arms everywhere, and he didn't have to wait long before someone yelled an irritated, "Luffy!".

Zoro could vaguely see the blue bubble surrounding them, and food magically appear on Law's plate. He could see iron dishes soar through the sky, all towards the grinning Kidd.

He even noticed arms sprouting out of the table, and calmly placing the food in Robin's hands.

If Zoro hadn't been all too busy protecting his food, he would've laughed at how ridiculous everything looked, really, it was like they never saw food before. As he scanned the table for any possible leftovers, when he spotted something odd.

There actually was someone eating in peace. Slow steady bites with the mouth one straight mouth. Not a single recognition towards the flavor, as if it was only ordinary the food tasted like this. Someone's head hided the person's face from Zoro's sight, so he slightly shifted to see who it was.

Zoro's eyes widened as blue eyes, or eye, met his own brown ones.

He should've known...

"You!"

Zoro and the blonde haired stupid ass boy yelled in unison.

Somehow, this caught the attention of almost everyone on the entire table, and all of the sudden all the eyes were looking at the two boys, which had jumped up and were pointing at eachother in horror.

"Oh,"

Shanks said.

"Do you know eachother, Zoro, Sanji?"

_'Sanji..._' Zoro thought while glaring at the blonde. _'A Japanese name huh? no wonder he called me marimo. Doesn't look very Japanese though.'_

"Yes!" Sanji bristled angrily.

"This green haired freak tried to cut me up with his three toothpicks!"

Some people chuckled at this. Everyone knew about Zoro's odd fightingstyle and he was often made fun of. He always ignored this though, but somehow he felt really angry and all fired up.

"Hmm, well, it's nice that you two already know each other."

Shanks said while scratching his chin before Zoro could throw a cunning insult at Sanji.

"What? Why? No?"

Zoro protested raising his eyebrows at shanks.

"What is this bastard doing here anyway? Our new cleaning maid?"

Everyone at the table either facepalmed or looked at Zoro as if he was the biggest idiot in the history of idiots. (Which he probably was I mean come on how dense can you get.)

And Zoro just frowned at Shanks, who glanced at Robin who was hiding her smile behind her hand as usual.

"Zoro,"

Shanks said while sighing and trying not to laugh.

"Sanji is your new sibling, an-"

"WHAT?!"

Zoro and Sanji bellowed at the same time.

"I refuse to live with him!"

As the two boys turned at each other in shock and glared at each other with all their might, Shanks continued talking.

"...That's to bad then,"

Shanks said, grinning.

"Because you'll be sharing your room."

_'fuck'_

XXX

"Just that you know,"

Sanji hissed while he buttoned his pajamas.

"I'll never see you as my sibling."

Zoro let out a snort and smirked.

"I can live with that, asshole."

"Shithead."

"Curly eyebrows."

"Damn marimo."

"Dumbass."

"Shitty swordsman."

"You wanna go bastard,"

"Any time, freak."

"Zoro, Sanji, no fighting in your room."

Zoro flinched when he heard Robin's voice echoing trough the room, and Sanji laughed at him for doing so.

"You done wetting your pants?"

The annoying blonde laughed while Zoro gritted his teeth,

"You don't know how scary she can be."

He said trough clenched theeth, but Sanji only smirked and climbed in his bed.

"Yeah sure,"

Sanji laughed.

"She may be older, but she's a woman."

Zoro paused and turned around to look Sanji in the eye. There was it again, that surge of hatred, and he wasn't even holding Wado.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Zoro hissed, his tone full of venom.

Truth was, Zoro didn't hate this guy. Not really. He just fought with him because his face and way of talking pissed him off and he always seemed to be starting it, but he didn't hate him. But when Sanji said something like this, he suddenly felt the need to strangle him, hard.

"Well,"

Sanji said while he pulled his blanket over him.

"Men are obviously stronger than women. There is no need to be afraid."

"Bullshit..."

Zoro breathed.

"what was that?"

"Nothing."

Zoro mumbled while he too got in his bed.

"Just shut up and go to sleep already."

"Don't tell me what to do."

Sanji growled, but he remained silent as Zoro turned the lights off.

"Oh yeah,"

Zoro said.

"Don't look at me if you're dead in the morning."

Sanji laughed at that.

"Same goes for you, asshole."

But even though Zoro was annoyed by the threat, it didn't make him dislike him. Not really.

And with that, the boy fell asleep, but not for long.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: You're not alone

At breakfast, everyone's eyes were glued to Sanji who apparently helped in the kitchen, making that delicious food. As the blonde carried dishes to the table with a few others, Zoro glared at him while placing another plate in front of a chair.

Sanji acted much differently when he was around others, he smiled often and almost never sulked, glared or scowled. He looked like a healthy happy normal young kid.

But Zoro knew better.

Because he was just like him.

Haunted by old memories in nightmares.

Around midnight Zoro woke by a soft whimper, and it didn't take very long to realize that it came from the bed on the other side of the room. The body in the bed was visibly trembling in the faint moonlight, and muffled screams could be heard.

Zoro didn't do anything to help him and it was troubling him. He knew how horrible it was to suffer form nightmares like those and yet he didn't do anything.

Over the years his own nightmares became much less scary, and he learned to deal with them until they stopped coming every night. They never really disappeared, but it wasn't nearly as bad and it was all Zoro dared to hope for.

Zoro knew that it wasn't just the night before Sanji had a bad dream. If you looked closely, you saw dark bags under his eyes, and when Luffy asked about it Sanji told him he always gets up early to help in the kitchen.

Bullshit.

Maybe Sanji was speaking the truth, but Zoro highly doubted that. He too had lied about the shadows under his eyes when he went trough that stage.

The nightmares had become so frightening and intense that Zoro was just too afraid to sleep, so he tried to find ways to keep himself awake. This resulted into him being horribly tired and grumpy. And Sanji was just that tired and grumpy.

Zoro didn't know if it was because Sanji simply resented him, or because he just liked annoying Zoro that the blonde acted completely different around him. Sure, he called others bastards and shitheads as well, but he smiled and didn't scowl as much when around them. Also, he never insulted girls. He was much friendlier to them.

This surprised Zoro, since he had expected Sanji to dislike women after he said those things that aggravated Zoro so much. It puzzled him why and how Sanji had so many personalities, but he thought it had something to do with his past. Maybe he just disliked people with green hair? He didn't have anything against Makino though.

As breakfast began, Zoro once again groaned at the flavor, and he wasn't the only one. No one had a single idea how the chefs managed to make such ethereal food, but no one really cared, as long as the chefs continued being able to. As everyone was lost for words at the divine breakfast, Zoro made sure to keep an eye on Sanji. He didn't know why he had such a strong sense of responsibility for Sanji, but it felt natural to protect him, like an instinct or something. Maybe it had something to do with his former lives. He made a note to himself to ask later.

After breakfast, Sanji did the dishes and Zoro left to train, and the rest did whatever they did during summer break. Swimming or gaming or whatever. Lazy little shits.

But not soon after Mihawk and Zoro engaged into battle, the older man sensed something was wrong, and told Zoro to come back when he was able to focus on fighting. Zoro knew that protesting wouldn't really help in his case, so he silently packed his katana away and left the dojo.

The hill the Japanese styled building sold on, was quite steep, and Zoro had to be careful with walking down to the mansion. Zoro didn't know how he didn't see Sanji coming, or how Sanji didn't see him coming, but before any of the two could do something as much as be surprised, they bumped into each other.

"Wh-"

Zoro said muffled against Sanji, who quickly pushed him off.

"Can't you watch where you're going?!"

The boy barked, a scowl on his face.

Zoro mirrored his expression, and crossed his arms.

"Look who's talking."

He huffed.

"Maybe you can actually see shit if you change your stupid hairstyle."

Sanji laughed.

"Are _you_ giving me advice about hair? Puh-lease."

Zoro could feel a vein pop in his forehead, and he suddenly had this odd desire to strangle someone. Preferably a blonde blue eyed boy from about his age.

"Why are you here anyway?"

Zoro hissed.

Sanji gave him a smug look, as if to say,'ha,I win', and stood up, pretending to brush dirt from his blouse.

"Well, a better question is, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Can't I walk back to the mansion or something?"

Zoro asked.

Sanji gave him a confused look.

"You do know the mansion is the other way, do you?"

Zoro flushed bright red in embarrassment and he was saved from a very awkward situation by Luffy, who was running towards them while being followed by his "crew" and Ace and Sabo.

"ZOROOO!"

The boy yelled enthusiastically.

"ARE YOU JOINING US FOR A PICNIC?"

'Eh. Why the hell not. '

XXX

After they had picked out a nice spot to eat, they placed down a blanket and got out the food and plates. Because everyone was very hungry, it didn't take very long before everyone was practically jumping the food.

As they ate, they made some small talk and Usopp made sure everyone knew the latest gossip. Well, half of it was a lie anyway, so Zoro didn't listen until Luffy said something to Sanji.

"Sooo, Sanji..."

Luffy began while sliding over to where the blonde sat.

Sanji, who had been eating in silence, looked at the raven in surprise and cocked a swirly eyebrow.

"What is it, Luffy?"

He asked after he swallowed.

"You already in a crew?"

Luffy asked, and everyone knew that Luffy was already set on getting Sanji in the strawhat crew. Because they still needed a chef and Sanji was the perfect candidate.

It wasn't a secret that Sanji had "the talk" with Robin and Shanks earlier today, and it was evident on his face that he still was a bit shaken from brook's appearance.

For some reason, shanks stopped announcing crew, bounties, etc after a while, so if you wanted to know, you had to ask the person itself an often even they didn't have the answer.

"Not that I know."

Sanji said.

"And I'm not planning to either. I'm going to return to France one day with Zeff and help him get that shitty restaurant he wants."

Luffy pouted at that, and after he stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth he started wining.

"But Saaaaanji~"

The boy moaned.

"How is that any fun? Don't you want to find something? I mean, don't you have a dream?"

Sanji opened his mouth, and then closed it again before answering.

"No. Not really. "

Zoro frowned. Somehow, that seemed like a bigger lie than about the shadows underneath his eyes. He definitely had to ask later if he knew Sanji in a past life.

"Eh?"

Luffy said wonderingly.

"How boring."

"Well, excuse me..."

Sanji muttered softly.

"You sure you don't want to join my crew though, sanjiii?"

Luffy asked again.

Sanji glanced at Luffy from the side and frowned.

"Why do you want me to join your crew so badly? I mean, it isn't much more than just being friends right?"

Sanji frowned.

"To most people it is."

Nami said, and Sanji turned around to face her only to have to look to his right to look at Usopp.

"But to Luffy, it's like family."

The long nosed boy said, and Nami rolled her eyes.

"Uh."

Sanji frowned.

"We're already family right? I don't see the point."

"You've heard about pirates searching for one piece right?" Zoro asked rhetorically.

"Well, they've almost gone extinct, but as I said, almost. Luffy is one of these dumb ass pirates and he is dragging us down with him. He can't sail grand line on his own can he?"

Sanji stared at Zoro as if he was stupid.

"And you do this willingly. You want to sail the grand line as well."

Sanji didn't really say it as a question and it instead sounded like he was insulting them. But hey, what's new.

"Well, it's all for the sake of our dreams."

Nami said, not faltering even a bit after Sanji's obvious judging.

"We all have this impossible dream and it is more likely to come true when we go with Luffy. I want to draw a map of the world like it really is, with the grandline and all. And I can't do that if I've never been to the grand line before now, can I?"

"Besides,"

Chopper said in that adorable little voice of his.

"Luffy forces you in his crew. It's not like any of us had a choice in the first place."

Sanji gave Zoro a look filled with bewilderment.

"Wfuwaht?"

Zoro asked with his mouth stuffed with a sandwich.

"Yfou wanht somwthing cooku?"

Sanji lifted his upper lip in utter disgust and mumbled something about table manners before getting to the point.

"I never saw you as someone who would actually listen to someone's orders, marimo."

Zoro swallowed his bread and just glared at Sanji.

He was saved from the awkward situation by Luffy, who definitely hadn't given up and wasn't planning to do anytime soon.

"But Saanjii~"

He whined.

"Are you joining or not? Don't you have a dream?"

Sanji's eyebrow twitched and he chewed on his lip for a fraction of a second, but quickly stopped, as if fixing a bad habit.

"Well..."

He said questioningly

"When I get old enough I will move to back France to help the shitty geezer build and run his stupid restaurant, that would be my dream. And I am not achieving it by going with you guys."

It went silent for a few seconds and Luffy, who sensed the tenseness, let out a sigh.

"Well, whatever."

He pouted and took another huge bite of his piece of meat.

"By the way, how many days until the end of summer break again?"

The rest of the conversation was about trivial things, and it didn't take long before Zoro tuned them out.

He didn't gain much from just observing Sanji, and he wasn't even sure how to help the guy either. Well, one thing was for sure, Sanji wasn't a happy boy.

XXX

There they were again, the soft muffled sobs.

Zoro had forced himself to stay awake that night, but now it came to it, he had no Idea what he was supposed to do. Should he wake Sanji up? Should he soothe him or something? Hug him? Listen to him? What?

Zoro was really confused, but he hoisted himself out of the bunk bed and climbed down to look at Sanji.

Perhaps if he listened to what the blonde mumbled in his sleep he could understand better?

As he crouched down next to Sanji's bed and watched the trembling figure in front of him, he started to feel really sad. Zoro remembered going trough this phase as well, and he knew that it was absolutely horrible. As much as Zoro wanted to wake him and to free him from his suffering, he didn't.

Sanji would just think Zoro did it out of pity, and that was the last thing he needed.

"Hngh..." Sanji panted and tossed and turned around, trapping himself in his blanket.

Sanji's face was turned to Zoro now, and Zoro frowned at the boy's dry cheeks. When Zoro had his nightmares, he wept like an infant, but Sanji didn't even seem to have teared up. Well, Zoro was three years younger than Sanji had been.

"...mom...dad..." Sanji muttered softly, tightening his grip on his pillow.

'Oh' Zoro thought. 'I see.'

Without really thinking about it, Zoro gently placed his hand on the blonde's hair, and started stroking it. It was surprisingly soft, and Zoro didn't even notice when Sanji woke.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

The blonde hissed angrily.

Zoro quickly pulled away his hand and stood up taking a step backwards.

"I-I...uh..." Zoro stuttered, trying to think of a decent lie which didn't make him look like some kind of sick molester or weirdo. And since he couldn't, he told the truth instead.

"You seemed...uncomfortable. I was trying to comfort you."

Sanji gave him this disgusted look.

"I don't need your help."

He barked softly, careful to not wake anyone in any of the other rooms.

"Or anyone's for that matter."

Zoro wanted to say something, something which would make him feel less insulted and ashamed, but Sanji had wrapped himself in his blanket already and turned his back to Zoro, so the boy climbed back in his bed and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep.

Zoro didn't know how much time had passed, but at some point he heard Sanji climb out of his bed. Curious, Zoro strained his ears.

"...Zoro?"

Sanji whispered.

"Are you awake?"

Zoro, who was still a bit offended by how the other boy had reacted to his attempt to soothe him, didn't answer and pretended to be asleep.

"Okay."

The boy mumbled after seeing Zoro was "asleep".

"G...good night."

Zoro bolted upright in his bed to look at Sanji, but the door already fell close behind him.

He had sounded on the edge on tears.

Zoro didn't care if Sanji wanted his help or not, he was going to follow him wherever he planned to go, because all he could see in Sanji was himself.

Because he too, had been broken once.

Xxxxxxxx

'Where in the name of god is that bastard going?' Zoro thought annoyed as he tried to remain invisible to Sanji. They were walking trough the pitch black forest, and all he could do was pray they didn't get eaten by some kind of wild animal. Zoro regretted greatly that he left his katana behind.

Zoro followed Sanji until they arrived at the beach. But Sanji didn't stop there, like Zoro had expected, no, the boy continued walking. As he walked over a narrow ridge above the unsettled sea, Zoro gulped.

'You've got to be kidding me...'

Sanji slipped more than once, nearly falling down, and it took a lot of Zoro's courage to follow the blond. The thought of Sanji being suicidal crossed Zoro's mind, but he quickly shook it off. He shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that. It only made him sad.

Zoro remembered going trough a stage where he was just overwhelmed by everything, and wanted to end it so bad he almost killed himself. But he talked about it with his friends, who admitted that they too, were often very sad. It was an instinct from past lives, to mourn over the ones you lost and not knowing that, but you do, and you just feel like shit. It was one of the disadvantages of being like them. ADHD, handicaps, emotionally unstable shit, craving for something, or somewhere you have never seen before... Things like that. Zoro just hoped that Sanji would give him the chance to explain what was going on in his head and that everything would go away in time.

And finally, after god knows how long, Sanji stopped walking on a separate, hidden patch of beach.

The boy removed his pajama shirt, and walked towards the sea, dropping it while doing so. Zoro gulped a bit at the sight of Sanji's bones sticking out, and he vaguely recalled Shanks' speech. It was hard to remember though, the food had been so enchanting. Zoro shook his head and told himself to focus.

It took a while before he realized that Sanji was planning to drown himself.

The boy charged towards Sanji as fast as he could, who was already in the water, and pulled him backwards, causing them both to fall in the water.

"What?!"

Sanji yelped as he sat in the water, trying to get his blond hair out of his vision.

"What did you do that for, bastard?!"

Zoro glared at Sanji.

"You were going to drown yourself!"

He hissed, and Sanji gave him a bewildered look.

"I was not!"

He protested.

"Can't a person swim without being strangled by some seaweed?"

"A normal person doesn't swim at midnight."

Zoro said skeptically.

"And what if I was trying to drown myself,"

Sanji challenged.

"Why would you care? Don't you hate me?"

Zoro didn't have to think about his answer for a moment, because he had long ago decided that he didn't hate this guy.

"No."

"Wha?"

"Sure, you are the most annoying shit I've ever met, but I don't hate you. I guess you can compare it with sibling love of something."

Sanji just stared at Zoro and it was making him uncomfortable. Desperate to stop that stare, Zoro continued talking.

"So why did you do it?"

"...several reasons."

Sanji answered, looking away.

"You can tell me if you want. Or rather, if you wouldn't mind."

Zoro said soothingly, a tone alien to Sanji.

"...I'm afraid."

Sanji whispered after a while.

"Afraid of the sea and I wish I wasn't. I thought that maybe this would make it go away."

Zoro didn't say anything encouraging Sanji to go on.

"I think it's because I was stuck on that rock. Man, those nightmares are terrifying. And I miss my parents. They died in a storm. And everything is a mess and I'm a mess and my thoughts are eating me and even though I'm not I feel so alone and everyone keeps telling me it will be alright but they don't understand because I just know it won't!"

Zoro looked away. It hurt so much that he could actually relate to this.

"We've all been there. I understand. You're not alone."

Zoro sighed.

"But that's the whole point! I am alone and I always was! You've lived your easy life all this time, so what do you know? Don't go telling me you understand like everyone else, because you DON'T!"

This ticked Zoro off. Now he said it.

"That is fucking hypocritical, you're the one who doesn't understand shit. An easy life? Don't make me laugh. "

Zoro hissed trough his teeth, surprising the urge to punch Sanji in the face.

"Oh great,"

Sanji breathed while he rolled his eyes.

"So yeah, you're totally the victim here. You almost starved to death on a rock not knowing if you'd ever see food again."

"I don't know how it feels to starve, and I don't know how it feels to lose your parents, I have forgotten that a long time ago, but I am damned well sure that you and I are both victims!"

Zoro barked, really getting angry and sad now.

"When I was three, my parents died, and I was found by a good man and his child. They taught me the way of the sword, and how to be a man. But then, everything I ever loved was taken away from me. They burnt down the dojo and killed them for no clear reason. All that remained in the ashes was me and a katana. Her katana. I promised her you know? To become the best. Shanks saved me. And my whole world was thrown around and I fought Mihawk but lost and I wanted to die. I was seven years old when I lost everything. Including my will to live. What makes you the victim?"

Sanji just looked at him like a sad puppy.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's fine. Sorry I yelled at you. "

Zoro mumbled.

"...you don't have to feel alone you know?"

Zoro looked up at Sanji trough his green lashes.

"You can join our crew, I guarantee you, they won't give you the chance to feel lonely."

"no matter how much I'd love to join the strawhats, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my shit together."

Sanji said sadly.

"Besides, I owe the shitty old man my life, and I'm not good enough to join you guys."

"And what makes you think that?"

Zoro frowns.

"I'm not a devil fruit user, I won't be able to put myself to use. "

That made Zoro laugh.

"Really now,sanji,"

He snickered.

"About half of us aren't either, and besides, we need a chef, someone skilled enough to feed he black hole called Luffy."

Sanji smiled a bit about that.

"So,"

Zoro said, pulling his legs towards his chest and wrapping his arms around it.

"What's with your dream that you didn't want to tell us?"

Sanji looked at the stars.

"...don't you have a foolish dream? A dream so stupid you want to slap yourself hard for even deciding on it?"

"There's no such thing as a foolish dream, Sanji,"

Zoro began, secretly copying the exact same words as robin had once said to him.

"Just people doubting your abilities."

That seemed to light a spark in Sanji's eyes, and suddenly they shined just as bright and beautiful as the stars above them.

"Have you..." Sanji said slowly, as if he was still considering whether to tell Zoro or not.

"Ever heard of the sea 'All Blue'?"

Zoro shook his head, and waited Sanji to continue.

"Well, it's basically heaven for the chefs of the sea,"

Sanji said.

As Sanji spoke about this sea, Zoro saw him light up, grow happier, as if talking about this thing was like breathing for him, and he had he himself back all this time.

And then Sanji did that thing, the thing Zoro never could imagine on Sanji's futures.

He smiled.

And not even smiled, he grinned like a madman, and it looked as if his face would split in two. Zoro liked it. It was great to see Sanji so happy, it made him feel nice.

"How about you?"

"The greatest swordsman of the world. I promised her, remember?"

Sanji smiled at Zoro, leaving him slightly stunned.

"How nice..."

Zoro quickly recovered, and raised from the luckily not all too cold water. (it was summer after all,) and offered Sanji his hand. At first Zoro thought the boy would refuse it, but Sanji pulled himself up and Zoro smiled at him, faintly.

"Let's go back you little shit. It's late already and you have to sleep."

He said without letting go, pulling Sanji towards wherever he thought the mansion was, into the big dark forest. As they walked back, they discussed their troubles a bit more, and Sanji began looking less penny every second. Sanji was sure he saw that tree before though.

Zoro didn't care if he got lost again, because now, for the first time, he was not alone.

**A/N: **

**As you could've guessed from the change in the title, I have decided to take a break from writing this fic. if you've taken the time to read the last author's note, you know that I am almost always busy with school and barely have the time for writing or whatever. The results from my 9 tests a while ago weren't as good as I would've wanted them to be, and I really want to stay on this school, which isn't going to happen if I keep being lazy. Also, this fic didn't really turn out the way I wanted, and I have to admit, I really despise this chapter. it's rushed and all the things that I watted to put in it, seemed awkward and unfitting. I will probably rewrite this thing when I have the time and motivation to do so, and I really hope that will anytime soon. until then I will be going back to writing short drabbles in my notebooks and perhaps write oneshots when I have the time. Well, Thanks again to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed, hell, everyone who gave this fic a chance, because they really helped me writing and there is nothing that can cheer me up more than to know I am not writing this just for myself. Sorry for this abrupt stop though, (damn I didn't even got the main plot started yet what,) And I guess I will see you in the future. I hope. Please don't hate me for this I am only human. **


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